Chapter 10: First NOT-date

That Sunday morning, Sango woke up to the sound of someone cooking in the kitchen. Yawning, she crawled out of bed, confused as to who was cooking downstairs as her dad had mentioned that he had to go to the station that morning. The only other plausible scenario could be that Kohaku was cooking something up. Only one problem; Kohaku didn't cook. In fact, his cooking skills were ten times worse than hers. The kid couldn't even make boxed macaroni and cheese without ruining the pot by burning it to hell afterwards. Sango's stomach grumbled as she sluggishly walked down the hall. Whatever was cooking in the kitchen smelled amazing, although a little on the pungent side compared to the breakfast foodstuffs she was used to cooking.

Maybe dad decided to take a day off. Sango wondered, her eyes still partially closed as she let out another yawn, stretching her arms above her head.

"I don't suppose you have coffee ready?" she asked the person cooking on the stove, not really paying attention to who was wielding the spatula.

"Well good morning to you too sunshine!" A masculine voice sarcastically answered back.

Sango's eyes snapped open. That voice...that's not my dad.

Sango took a step back, almost losing her balance when she realized who was at the stove. "Miroku, what are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming til' noon."

Miroku flipped the contents of the skillet with the spatula.

"What? a guy can't show up at 8am to make breakfast for his best friend and her little brother. Come on Sango, I thought you knew me better than that."

Miroku took a good look at his friend, she had apparently just rolled out of bed as she was still in her pajama bottoms and her hair was a rat's nest of tangles. Somehow the bedhead made her look even cuter to him. For a brief second he daydreamed about what it would feel like to wake up to that sleepy face every morning. That thought was quickly nixed when he noticed something far more interesting than her messy hair.

Miroku's eyes locked on Sango's chest, she was wearing a thin, white, lace-trimmed camisole with nothing underneath; showing every curve of her fantastic breasts.

"Cold in here, Sango?" he smirked.

Sango shook her head. "Nope, I feel just fine."

Miroku flexed his hand. "You sure? Perhaps I can offer some assistance if you need warming up."

Kohaku snickered from behind his hand-held game. Sango gave the teenager a puzzled look. "Alright, what's so funny?"

"He means your nipples are showing, Sis."

Sango's face went crimson. She quickly covered her chest with her arms while she ran back into her bedroom to put on something considerably less revealing. Rummaging through her dresser drawer like a hungry raccoon, she found an over-sized black t-shirt. Sango pulled the shirt over her head, taking one last look in the mirror to make sure that her nipples were well-hidden this time around. She grabbed her chest, regretting the fact that earlier she didn't think to cover up her sweater-puppies a little better. Of course the pervert would have noticed that she wasn't wearing a bra. The smell of breakfast drifted through the air again as she made her way back into the kitchen.

Sango rejoined Kohaku at the kitchen table. Miroku had placed three plates down with what looked like eggs scrambled with sausage and peppers in them. He then placed a big plate of homemade tortillas in the center of the table next to some small jars of salsa.

"What's this called?" Sango asked him, shifting the contents of her plate around with her fork. Whatever it was, it at least smelled appetizing.

Miroku scooped up some of the contents of his plate into one of the tortillas.

"Chorizo con huevos, I learned how to make it from Stony's mom. Go on, roll up some in a tortilla, I promise it's really tasty."

Kohaku was the first to take a bite of the breakfast tacos. His eyes widened in shock. "This tastes amazing!"

"It can't be all that great." Sango scoffed as she took a bite. She soon found herself literally eating her words. How in the Hell was Miroku such a great cook? Heck, he was even better than his mom!

Kohaku piled more salsa on his 2nd go at the breakfast tacos. "If this is what food is, then what have we been eating?"

"Hey, it's not like I don't try to cook." Sango snapped at her brother.

"Maybe you should take lessons from Miroku then? His cooking skills absolutely pulverize yours!" Kohaku managed to spit out between bites.

For once, Sango had to agree with him. With Miroku around they could probably have decent meals for a change and not just steak-umms over rice because she and her dad felt lazy.

Once the food was all eaten, Sango began to gather up the plates. Just as she was about to make the dishwater, Miroku stopped her.

"Don't worry about it Sango, I'll take it from here."

Sango turned on the hot water tap. "Are you sure, I don't mind doing it myself or even helping you."

He placed his hand over hers. "I insist, besides you probably need to get dressed for our outing in a couple of hours."

In an instant Sango's eyes met his. She quickly jerked her hand away from his before things got a little too awkward between them. "Right, of course. I-um need to get ready."

Miroku went back to tending to the dishes as Sango walked off to her bedroom.

Sango took one last look at him before he was out of her peripheral vision. "Oh, and by the way, Miroku."

Miroku looked up from his dishes. "Yeah?"

"If I catch you peeping at me while I'm undressing, you're dead."

Miroku grinned at her. "So, does this mean I can peep on you when you're getting dressed instead?"

Sango glared at him. Of course he would find some kind of a loophole. "None of that either."

He returned back to his dishes. "Duly noted, Sango."

Sango turned on the water for her shower after taking one last look around for any prying eyes. Even though this was her house, she didn't feel completely safe with that pervert Miroku looming just down the hall. Making sure the coast was clear, she draped her towel on the back of the toilet seat.

Outside in the hall, Miroku could hear the water running in Sango's room as well as the faint sound of Sango singing in the shower. Her singing was pleasant, hardly off key. He leaned against the wall to hear more. Once the shower went off, so did her singing voice.

After she was done blow-drying and fixing her hair up in her usual high-ponytail and white ribbon, Sango stood in front of her closet. Her hands picked through the layers of clothing, trying to find a suitable outfit to wear. Within ten minutes most of the contents of her closet wound up on the floor. Sango sighed, she wondered why was she making something as simple as choosing an outfit so difficult? This wasn't even a real date; it was just an outing as friends for Pete's sake. Feeling that she had enough of that nonsense, Sango closed her eyes and picked two items at random off of the floor. Surprisingly, her choice comprised of a pair of high-waisted denim shorts and a pink and white t-shirt looked pretty good for a blind pick. She tucked the hem of the t-shirt into the shorts. Sango glanced down at the pile of clothes on the floor. Crap, now I have to pick all of this up.

While Sango was busy getting ready, Miroku and Kohaku sat on the couch. Kohaku had his nose stuck in a book while he patiently waited for his sister to finish up. Miroku took a quick look at the freckle-faced teenage kid sitting on the opposite side of the couch. He chuckled, Kohaku was positively the polar opposite of Rin. Rin was never this quiet in the company of others, nothing could get that kid's motormouth to stop once it started going. Come to think of it he never really saw her read either, aside from trashy teenybopper magazines like Tiger Beat.

Miroku glanced at the book in Kohaku's hand. "Firestarter, huh?"

Kohaku nodded, "Yeah, It's really good too. I'm on the eighth chapter."

"So you like Stephen King books then?"

Kohaku flipped a page of his book. "Yeah, he's one of my favorites. I've read most of his books except for Cujo. I've been meaning to borrow it from the library but I always forget about it when I'm there."

"Do you like horror movies too?"

Kohaku shut his book, setting it down on the coffee table. Smiling from ear-to-ear, he adjusted his glasses. "Wanna see my collection?"

Kohaku led Miroku into his bedroom. Upon entering, Miroku was stunned at the décor in Kohaku's room, The teen's walls were painted black and plastered with poster prints of slasher villains like Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees. Red paint, painted to look like blood drips cascaded down from the ceiling. On one of the walls resided a big glass shadow-box full of ninja weapons and knives of assorted sizes and lengths. Kohaku had also amassed a giant collection of horror-themed action figures and oddities neatly placed on shelves throughout his room.

Miroku picked up a jar with a pinkish-grey blob submersed in green-yellow liquid.

"Hey Kohaku, what's this?"

Kohaku grinned, "Oh, that's my rhesus monkey brain. Cool isn't it?"

Miroku sat the jar down. "What on Earth are you doing with a monkey brain?"

Kohaku pulled out two large cardboard boxes from under his TV stand.

"I found it at a flea market in San Bernardino a couple of years ago. The guy I bought it from was also selling genuine Roswell alien urine but I thought the brain was cooler."

Kohaku placed the open boxes on his bed. "Well, this is it. My collection!"

Miroku dug through one of the boxes. Kohaku wasn't kidding, his collection of Horror VHS tapes was huge. The Evil Dead, Basket Case, Hell Night, Halloween, Cannibal Holocaust, Hellraiser, and a bunch of others lined the cardboard boxes.

"How in the Hell did you get all of these? Aren't VHS tapes supposed to be ridiculously expensive to own?"

"From my friend Bradley, his dad is the owner of Rewind Rob's Video. Every few years or so his dad gets new copies of different VHS tapes and throws away the old ones that don't sell." Kohaku responded.

Miroku packed the VHS tapes back into the boxes "Well, it's an amazing collection Kohaku, I have to say I'm kind of jealous."

Kohaku hopped off of his bed. "Don't mention it, and if you want to we can marathon them sometime when you are over, since we both like slasher films. Sango likes watching them too but only because she finds them more funny than scary."

The conversation between them ended when they saw Sango come out of her room across the hall. She stepped into her little brother's room, careful not to trip over anything weird on the floor. Oddly enough, that wasn't a problem this time around as Kohaku actually cleaned up his pigsty of a room sometime earlier that week.

"I see that Kohaku has shown you his collection; so are you guys ready to go?"

Miroku stood up from Kohaku's bed. His eyes had not left Sango since she walked into the room, he never knew what Sango looked like in shorts until now. If her shorts were any shorter, he would definitely be feeling ass cheek if he was to grope her later. He took another good look at her lower half, with those long legs and short shorts, Miroku would slap himself it if he didn't feel her up at least once today.

Miroku nodded. "Yeah, follow me out to the car."

Miroku opened the passenger door to his Camaro, lifting the lever on the side of the seat for access to the backseat. Kohaku crawled into the backseat, finding the interior to be really cramped with hardly any leg room.

Miroku turned the key in the ignition. "Kohaku, apologies if it's a little cramped back there, my car lacks a decent sized backseat."

"It's okay, I have plenty of room if I sit this way." Kohaku replied, adjusting his feet to where they wouldn't be trapped under the driver's seat.

Miroku put his car in drive. "Make sure you buckle up back there."

At the pier, the trio found the arcade to be incredibly crowded. Hardly any of the games were vacant. Rows and rows of quarters lined each arcade game. The line for the air hockey and pool tables wrapped around like a snake with bored teenagers waiting their turn. People's children were running amok and screaming their heads off at the snack bar. Two small children were fighting over a stuffed animal one of them had won from the claw machine, heaven help them if they managed to tear the poor teddy bear's arms off in the struggle. Miroku quickly ducked his head out of the way as a particularly bratty kid standing on a table sent a half-eaten corn-dog flying through the air.

Sango gave him a worried look. "I'm sorry Miroku, I swear it wasn't this crowded last time Kohaku and I were here."

"It's not your fault, summer vacation happened and this place happens to be indoor and air-conditioned." He reassured her.

Miroku glanced over to the Gauntlet arcade game where Kohaku had somehow managed to beat the line for his turn. "Looks like Kohaku is pretty content."

Sango ran to catch up with her brother. "Wait right there Miroku, I need to ask Kohaku something before he gets zoned out in his game."

Miroku waited next to the skee-ball machines for a couple of minutes before Sango came running back.

"So, what did you ask him?"

"I asked him if it was okay if me and you left him alone to his games while we find something else to do on the pier, he said it was fine as long as we come back to pick him up in a couple of hours." She replied.

Miroku was elated at her response, this whole time he thought that he would never get alone time with Sango because Kohaku would surely be a third wheel and yet here she was actually requesting his company. For something that wasn't supposed to be a date, it was beginning to feel like one.

"Well, come on what are you waiting for. We better hurry before the rides on the pier get too packed." Sango grabbed Miroku's hand, leading him out of the arcade and into the amusement park on the pier.

After purchasing tickets for the rides, the two of them scoped out the park. Luckily, the lines weren't that long for the tilt-a-whirl and the roller coaster. While on the roller coaster, Miroku found it weird that Sango pretty much stayed silent the entire time as the girl sitting in the car behind them was screaming her lungs off.

Miroku led Sango to one of the carnival games, this one involved shooting metal ducks with targets painted on them using a bb gun. He noticed Sango staring longingly at a large panda plush hanging from the prize rack. Figuring himself kind of lucky at these games, he went for it. The rocker rolled up his sleeves, cracking his knuckles so he could get a good grip on the gun.

Miroku paid the man behind the stall. "four rounds please."

Unfortunately, it seemed that luck was not on his side when he was down to his last round and only managed to knock down one target.

Miroku sighed, "I guess I wasn't as good as I thought."

Sango tapped him on the shoulder. "Can I have the last go?"

Miroku handed her the gun. "Sure, knock yourself out."

Sango rolled back her shoulders as she readied the gun. "Alright, let's do this."

PING! PING! PING! PING!

Sango managed to hit eight ducks in a row with damn near perfect accuracy.

Miroku's mouth went agape at her shooting skills.

"WE HAVE A WINNER!" shouted the man behind the stall as he handed the panda to Sango.

Sango hugged the plush panda under her arm as she and Miroku walked to the snow-cone stand.

Miroku paid the vendor for two snow-cones. "Where did you learn to shoot like that, Sango? That was amazing!"

Sango took a bite of her cherry snow-cone. "I started going to the shooting range with my dad when I turned sixteen. Apparently, I'm what they call a natural. Dad says I'd make a great policewoman but I don't think I'd want to put myself in danger like that."

Miroku mixed the contents of his snow-cone around with his spoon. "I don't blame you, it's a scary world out there, lots of creeps around every corner."

Sango laughed, "That's true but I'm not worried. I've been practicing self-defense martial arts ever since I was barely out of kindergarten. I know full well how to disarm a creep if they try anything on me."

"Hey look a quarter!" Sango exclaimed, bending down to pick up a coin from the pavement.

Miroku gulped, fighting tooth and nail to reach out and touch what was right in front of him without her noticing. He retracted his hand from hovering over her ass when she stood back up. Dammit, I was so close!

"Something the matter, Miroku?"

He quickly shoved his hand behind his back. "It's nothing, I just had a brain freeze, I guess I ate that snow-cone a little too fast."

"Miroku, I've been meaning to ask you something."

"What's on your mind, Sango?"

"I noticed that you always wear a glove on your right hand but not the other one, Is there something wrong with your hand?"

Miroku looked down at his hand. "No, not really. I mainly keep it on because I have a grody birthmark that I'm kind of self-conscious about."

"Can I see it?"

Miroku reached for the velcro fastening of his glove. "Are you sure you want to? It looks pretty bad."

"Of course! I'm sure it's not that bad. I live with a horror movie fanatic, remember? I've probably seen a lot worse."

Miroku removed the fingerless leather glove from his hand, revealing a black mark on the palm of his hand that in a way almost looked hollow.

She traced the outline of the mark with her fingertips. "It looks like some kind of void, I've never seen a birthmark like this before."

Miroku put the glove back on. "Confusing isn't it? That's why I keep it hidden. Funny thing is I'm not the only one in my family that has it. My dad has it, my grandfather had it, and his father before him had the mark as well. Dad says the mark has plagued the men of my family for centuries as a remnant of a long-forgotten curse put on one of my ancestors by a vengeful demon."

Sango raised an eyebrow. "Demons? As in like The Exorcist, y'know throw holy water on them and recite the lord's prayer and they turn into a pile of ash?"

Miroku shook his head. "Not those kinds of demons, Japanese demons. Youkai."

"Youkai? Aren't those supposed to be a myth?"

Miroku lit a cigarette from out of his pocket. "Well yeah, now they are. Call me superstitious but I believe at one point and time they existed and were just as real as you and me. Just because something can't be explained, it doesn't mean that it didn't happen, Sango."

After the lengthy conversation about mythology and curses, Miroku and Sango strolled around the park a little while longer observing the sights, smells, and people walking around. They rode a couple of more rides like the air-swing and the sky-drop. Sango stopped at the end of the line for the ferris wheel.

"You know, I've always kind of hated these things."

Miroku scratched his head. "How come? I mean you rode the roller coaster and the sky-drop just fine."

Sango looked up at the ferris wheel. "I dunno, I guess I've just always had this silly fear of getting stuck in midair. It's stupid right?"

Miroku held her hand. "I don't think it's stupid at all. We don't have to ride it if you don't want to."

She pulled her hand from his grasp. "No, I want to go on it. Besides, it's a lot less scary when you're riding with someone."

The line dwindled down until it was their turn to ride on the wheel. Sango was the first to step into the seat. Once the wheel started moving upward, she nervously gripped the seat bar of the ride. Her fingers twitched all over the cold semi-rusted iron bar. She couldn't help but gasp when Miroku pulled her close to his body. He clutched her free hand in his, only this time she didn't immediately pull away.

Sango's face flushed bright pink as she tried to wiggle herself free from his grasp. The more she struggled, the tighter he hugged her.

Miroku gave her hand a light squeeze. "I know you're nervous but let's stay like this until the ride is over."

Sango's heart raced ninety to nothing, this was the first time that a guy had ever held her like this. Somehow, it wasn't really awkward at all. She had only been this close to Miroku one other time and that was an accident. However this time it was different, maybe it was because she actually wanted to be held by him. Closing her eyes, she nuzzled her head underneath Miroku's chin, hearing that his heart was beating just as fast. The scent of cigarette smoke and sandalwood embedded in his clothing lingered against her nose.

"You smell like cigarettes." she whispered.

"Sorry, I'll make su..."

Sango cut him off. "Don't apologize, I like the smell."

Sango remained in his embrace until the ride came to a halt. The safety bar on the Ferris-wheel pod lifted up, letting both of them off of the ride.

Once they were off of the platform, Miroku playfully nudged her shoulder. "See, that wasn't so bad!"

Sango smiled. "Thanks for y'know helping me cope with my fear back there."

Before she could say another word, Miroku embraced her in yet another hug.

Sango squirmed in his embrace. "H-hey just because it was okay back there doesn't mean you can..." Her trail of thought was interrupted by the all-too-familiar sensation of his hand rubbing her bottom.

Sango angrily smacked him with the panda plush, repeatedly. "Can't you ever get your mind out of the gutter? I swear I let my guard down for one second and you do that!"

Miroku watched as she stormed off. "Sango, wait! Where are you going?" he yelled.

"To go get my brother, It's almost sundown and we need to get back home." She yelled back at him through the crowd.

"So you're just going to leave me here?"

"I will if you don't catch up to me, slowpoke."

Miroku ran to catch up with her before she beat him to the front door of the arcade. Inside of the arcade they found Kohaku sitting at one of the tables inside the snack bar area. The teen had a sullen look on his face as he sipped away at a large cup filled with Sprite.

"What's the matter, Kohaku?" Sango asked, concerned about the change in her little brother's attitude.

"Someone beat my high-score on Dracula's Revenge, after I spent months trying to perfect it too. Anyways, did you two have fun?"

Sango sat down on one of the stools next to him.

"Yeah, we had fun. So now what do you want to do? It's getting late, so we don't have many options."

Kohaku brought his finger to his chin. "Well, we could always rent a movie and order pizza at the house."

Sango glanced over at Miroku. "Sound good to you?"

Miroku tossed his car keys in the air. "Ready when you are."

Back at the house, Empty pizza boxes and soda cans lined the coffee table. Sango's dad had just returned home before the movie started. Not only did Officer Sato manage to eat most of the pizza, he also made sure to sit between his daughter and Miroku on the couch while the movie was on. Miroku rested his chin on his knuckles, brooding because Sango's dad deliberately cockblocked him from her.

Miroku had fallen asleep for most of the movie when Officer Sato slugged him on the shoulder. "Pay attention to the movie, Spray paint. Look, the dog thinks he can ride a skateboard! Isn't that ridiculous?"

Miroku rubbed the shoulder where Officer Sato had slugged him. "yeah, funny."

While her father was busy with his maniacal laughter, Sango craned her body past him to face Miroku. The two of them caught each others gaze as the movie rolled into the end credits. Their gaze didn't last long at all as both of them jolted back into their respective seats on the couch when Sango's dad stood up to stretch his arms.

Hours after saying goodbye to Miroku for the evening, Sango tossed the plush panda from her bed up in the air. She stared into the panda's beady blue plastic eyes, wondering why she kept insisting that today had been an outing when she knew damn well that It was a date, her first date at that. Hugging the panda plush, Sango shook her head. How long was she going to deny the fact that she wanted to be with Miroku? She stared at the picture of her mother hanging on the wall across from her bed. Mom, if you were here what would you do? I could really use some advice.

[A/N] This was a tough chapter to write, I had the idea stuck in my head for a while but every time I tried to pen it out I was interrupted with something stupid. This chapter was kind of research heavy, I actually did find out that the joke about a VHS tape in the 80's costing $100 or more was true! I've always liked Kohaku's character in the manga and anime but I never really figured out what his personality was, so in my AU he is a shy video-gaming horror movie nut because why not? I hope I didn't stray too OOC on that one.

80's Slang/General Glossary

Grody: Disgusting; sick

Gauntlet: 1985 adventure game, pretty much pioneered the typical hack and slash dungeon game.

MIX TAPE:

Track 1: Megadeth- I Ain't Superstitious

Track 2: Ratt- Round and Round

Track 3: Talking Heads- Girlfriend Is Better