I'm thinking this collection will go to Part 20, and I even have an idea for the very last thing that will happen. I'd like to once again thank everyone for the views and reviews. You've been amazing, guys.

For those who don't remember (I certainly didn't and had to look the name up), Mushin is the monk who raised Miroku after his father died.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Wrong Number Text

Part 14

Despite popular opinion (in other words, despite Sango's opinion), Kagome wasn't as dense as she sometimes let on. A few days after her accidental date, she went back to the antiques store. Even if Inuyasha wasn't there, Miroku was bound to be. On top of not being dense, Kagome was also fully capable of taking her love life into her own hands. She was not going to wait around for Inuyasha to track her down. Let's face it: he came off as kind of stubborn and lazy.

Unfortunately, when she walked into the shop, Miroku wasn't the one behind the counter. Instead, there was a little, old(, probably drunk) man by the name of Mushin. The old man was more obvious in his lechery, stumbled too often to get a good grope (although he tried), and used far too many innuendos. In other words, he was no help at all.

What Kagome didn't know was that Sango had already been to the shop and nabbed Miroku about an hour earlier. They were on their own pseudo date at… the mall.

It was a "pseudo" date because, really, all Sango wanted was information about Inuyasha, and all Miroku wanted was to admire Sango in her school uniform that she hadn't had time to change out of. It was still a "date," because it was obvious to everyone that saw them walking, talking, and arguing together that they were into one another.

"You really want to spend this time talking about Inuyasha?" Miroku asked incredulously, carefully folding his hands together to keep them from inching towards Sango's rear end. Again. The palm print still hadn't faded from his face from when he had "greeted" her at the shop.

"Yes, I really do," Sango insisted. She was momentarily distracted by a window displaying a line of athletic clothing, but she pulled her eyes away. "Do you think Inuyasha likes Kagome?"

"What are we, in high school?"

"Actually, I am in high school, thanks. I don't wear this skirt for fashion," Sango pointed out smartly.

"I wish all women wore that skirt for fashion... Wait, not all women. Just ones with really great legs. But to answer your— immature, I might add— question, yes, I think Inuyasha is interested in Kagome."

"Is he a good guy?"

"Inuyasha? Honestly, he's kind of a jerk. I mean, he'll do the right thing most of the time, and I think he enjoys helping people, but he's just… snarky about it."

"Snarky?"

"Yeah. You know, rude. Petulant. Whiny. Insulting."

Sango rolled her eyes and thought back to Kagome's play-by-play retell of The Date, how Inuyasha's description of his best friend hadn't sounded very friendly either. "I think you and Inuyasha need to have a heart-to-heart and work on your relationship."

Miroku smiled charmingly at her. Out of the corner of her eye, Sango saw a group of fourteen-year-olds swoon. "We have a complicated friendship."

"I've noticed."

"Now you and Kagome, you have a very obvious friendship. You act like her big sister."

"Someone has to take care of her," Sango muttered. "She's just so… I don't know. She's spontaneous and so heart-felt. She has to befriend and help everyone."

"And you're down to earth and only help those who you are close to."

"Maybe," she admitted, looking away, disliking how he'd figured her out so well in only a handful of meetings.

"Which means you'd sell me out in a heartbeat."

"Maybe," she repeated, this time grinning but still keeping her face turned away. "So, how about I get your phone number so that Kagome and I can stop traveling all the way downtown to visit that dusty shop of yours?"

"It would be my pleasure," Miroku said with a flourish, but stumbled to a halt, his eyes suddenly widening. "Well, except I don't have a phone."

"You're a teenager in Japan, how do you not have a phone?"

"I sold it last month for some cash to the store next door to the shop."

"Wait," Sango said, her mind moving quickly as things started to snap into place. She had always been good at thinking quick on her feet, putting things together and seeing the whole picture where others only saw the small details. "You sold your phone to the phone store next door to the antiques shop. And Inuyasha's your friend. And his name starts with an 'I.'"

"I think I just said that."

"What was your old phone number?"

"How is that going to help you out now? Think you might like the new owner better than the old one?"

Sango began to smile. "Actually, I'm pretty sure I already do."

The confident and smooth Miroku started to deflate a little, having trouble following the conversation, disliking Sango's words, and distrusting the way she was starting to grin, as if something had just gotten caught in a trap. "Wait, what?"

Sango insisted on Miroku giving her his old phone number, and she compared it to one in her address book, her eyes lighting up with realization. "Oh, this is great. This is great," she said gleefully. "The only question is, should I tell them or should we see how long it takes them to figure it out on their own?"

As she started to stride off in the direction of the exit, Miroku trailed after her confusedly. "Sango, what are you talking about?"