AN: Suichiro and Kokyuo are actually two different characters (the first is a doctor and the second is a son of Satan) from CLAMP's Wish, a very cute series I recomment picking up. It's only 4 books long and enough chibi's to make your head explode! And some very attarctive demons and angels. So, Suichiro, not my character. CLAMP's. I apologize for the lack of MS in this chapter. Trust me, there will be some only two short chapters from now, and then some. Then lots of it. Im fact, it explodes... but I've said too much.

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Rivals

"Raspberry, please."

The lady behind the counter accepted Sango's money and turned to begin making Sango's smoothie. She leaned on the counter as she waited in anticipation, happy for the first time in what felt like ages. Sango had become frustrated not only with the on-again-off-again headway into their case, but also with her life. She'd wanted to get desperately away from both Urahara and Miroku, so she had turned to Akane and said: I need shopping therapy.

Akane had wholeheartedly agreed.

With both of them in the mall, splurging their money and sweets and smoothies it was easy to forget everything. For a scant few hours they were ordinary girls on summer vacation, relaxing at a mall. Sango wasn't half demon, Akane didn't have telekinetic powers, and after an ice cream cone and laughing over the lingerie displays, it was also easy to pretend that they didn't have a weapon strapped to their waist under baggy tank tops.

Once Sango had acquired her smoothie—and was sucking blissfully away—Akane grabbed her hand and began pulling her towards the book shop. "C'mon! I want to see if thelatest volume of Fruits Basket is out!" she exclaimed, pulling Sango along whether she was willing or not.

Sango was more than willing to go, of course. The bookshop was always number one on their list of stores to visit. Sango liked going for the ambiance and to look at books she could potentially use next year in school. Akane liked it because she had a thing for romance novels—secretly, of course—and only with Sango could she buy them and not worry about Sango spreading it around work.

But that didn't mean Sango didn't tease Akane about it. After being disappointed that the latest volume wasn't arriving for another week, a new novel by Yuu Watase caught her eye. She stood examining it, as if enraptured by the back cover. Sango grabbed it from her hands, shaking her head disapprovingly.

"Finds herself the object of affection from two beautifully handsome men," she read off the back cover. Sango set down her drink on an empty bookshelf to pick through it. "Sounds just like Fushugi Yuugi. Man, to resort to old plots like that, Watase's really digging for plots here."

Akane didn't try to steal it back. Instead, she smiled shyly and crossed her arms, a twinkle in her blue eye. "Oh, really, Sango? But seeing as how you're getting romanced from Urahara-sama and Miroku-sama, I suppose that makes you Miaka Yuki. Oh yes, Sango. I've heard about that. Even if I hadn't, anyone who wasn't blind could pick up on the fact that Urahara and Miroku both like you. I mean, it's almost disgusting. When you leave the room, they both look like puppy dogs whose master has taken away their food bowl. And I swear to God! When you lean over around either of them you would need a pitcher to catch their drool!"

As Akane laughed at the face Sango made, Sango nearly growled back at her. "Was reading all these cheesy romances what put those ideas into your head, Akane-chan? Whatever in the world possessed you to start reading these things? It's not like these types of thing actually happen."

"Sango, you're so cynical," Akane chided lightly. "You're half demon. How can you say that these things can't happen—aliens, machines that think and act like people, other worlds, and demons—when you know for a fact that two of them already exist? And as for the cheesy romance plot, all you have to do is to look at your own love life to see that they can happen. Perhaps not in the extreme romance novels use, but they do happen. Love triangles aren't so uncommon." Akane picked up another manga off the shelf, staring at it wistfully. "I kind of wish something like that would happen to me."

With a little smile, Sango poked her best friend. "There's always Saotome."

"What? Ranma?"

"No, I meant his father. Yes, Ranma!"

"Don't roll your eyes like that at me, Sango." Akane's back stiffened as she put the book back down. "Ranma's a nice person, but he's ill-sensitive, quiet, perverted…" Sango watched as Akane's fists clenched before she controlled herself.

"It's not like those are all qualities you hate," Sango pointed out gently. She shook her head, her brown hair clinging to her skin, which was covered in goose-bumps from the air conditioning blaring in the book shop. She softened her voice. "Face it. The main reason why you don't like Ranma is because he's better than you. For ages you were the best kid your age in the IBSP—of course, you never went up against Ranma. Now you've found someone better than you and it scares you because you're not the best anymore."

Akane was throwing Sango death-glares now. "Gee, I wish I knew myself half as well as you knew me, Sango-chan." Frustrated, she stomped off to the other side of the bookshelf, talking as she went. "I'll like Ranma when he starts to act a bit warmer towards me! God gave him a mouth! Maybe he should try using it for once!"

Sango was barely holding back her laughter as she looked back down to see she was still holding the Yuu Watase manga Akane had picked up. At least the conversation had veered away from Sango's love life, which was what Sango had really wanted. As she reached out to put he book back on the shelf, a hand reached out to take it from her. Sango spun around to see one of her class mates standing behind her, inspecting the book with a careless expression. He was so close to her Sango was frightened—not because it was an invasion of privacy, but because she had never heard him sneak up on him. She had never felt body warmth move closer, or heard footsteps. It was as if he had materialized out of thin air.

Now he was so close to her his body was pushing back the goose-bumps on her skin, so close she could smell his aftershave. He flipped through the book carelessly before shaking his head so that strands of black hair, glinting blue in the light of the bookstore, fell into eyes as dark as night. His voice was rich with laughter as he passed her back her book.

"I never imagined the great and practical Tora Sango would read something so childish. Wouldn't it suit you better to read some of that English fad stuff? Dean Koontz? Michael Chrichton? Books about science and genetics and criminal investigations?"

"Possibly, Suichiro, but this wasn't mine in the first case." Sango almost slammed the book back on the shelf and picked up her drink. She tried to pass her way between his body and the bookcase, with "My choice in books shall remain a secret, as always."

His hand stopped her. Suichiro Kokuo leaned over and rested his hands on the rim of the book shelves, capturing Sango between them. He clucked his tongue lightly, smiling and revealing very nice white teeth. "Miss Tora, it wounds me to hear you say that. How long have we known each other? How long since we sat together in our first high school biology class? I can still remember the first time I ever asked you out, Sango."

Sango glared at him. "So can I. You asked me out to a movie over a fish dissection."

It wasn't that Sango hated Suichiro. It was hard to hate someone as nice and popular as he was. But Sango came close. Dating Suichiro would have made Sango's high school life easier. She would have become a member of the popular clique by default, and she never would have gotten teased again. However, she had always said no. He wasn't Urahara, and she didn't want to be with him. The fact that he kept trying to ask her out was almost endearing—and more than a little annoying. Something about Suichiro bothered her—now more than ever. Sango had left work because she wanted to get away from men! A third romantic interest at this point was just too much.

He smiled at her. He had a charming smile, but Sango didn't like it. It wasn't like Urahara's, where it was full of fun and mischief, reminding her of tickle-fights. And it wasn't like Miroku's, where it was full of boyish-energy and promises of nights of entertainment, either going out or staying in. Suichiro's smile was just a tad short of smug. He knew he was good-looking and he abused it.

That was probably why he kept on asking her out. He didn't understand why anyone would say no to him. His looks had gotten him everything in life, except Sango. He shook his head, leaning a bit closer to him again. Sango held her drink ready, either to stab him with the straw if he came any closer or to dump out her drink on his pants to make him back off. He was trying too hard, he really was. Last time he'd tried asking her out, he'd brought her flowers. He always tried too hard.

"Sango, please. Don't make me beg. One night. That's all I ask. One night to let me… let me take you out to supper, to treat you like a princess and show you how much you mean to me."

God help her, Sango was willing to say yes because it would get him away from her. She couldn't. There was one other problem with saying yes to Suichiro: he had been one of the friends of their first female victim. They needed information from him, badly, at this point, but her morals wouldn't let her use him like that just for information.

Could they?

"If you want to show you how much you mean to me, then why don't we get together?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at him. Either she was horrible at it or else Suichiro had become so accustomed to her turning him down that his eyes widened in shock, and not repulsion. Sango felt bile rising in the back of her throat as she tried to look coy. If this thing with Kagome fell through, then Suichiro may be their only hope for a new clue as to why she and Eve and the old Chinese monk had been killed. Sango latched on to that thought, refusing to let it go. This was business. It was justified. "We could talk about Ira..."

"Why would you want to talk about a thing like that?" he interrupted. "She's dead, Sango. What's your fascination with a girl that's dead?" Suichiro had gotten over his shock—he seemed to get over things like that easily.

"I just… she was in our classes, Suichiro. Our school. I feel like… like I lost the chance to know her. I've never had a schoolmate die before." Sango ducked her head, letting her eyes well up with water. If Kakashi knew how easily she could make herself cry, then Sango surely would have gotten away with far less! "Give me the chance to know her, please, before our memories have become dimmed. And then…"

Here Sango's pause was not the work of a girl who had learned to bluff from a young age. Back then, Sango had learned from watching the others, imitating their facial expressions and tones and yes, even syntax. This pause, in contradiction to the tears that clung to her eyelashes, too light to be actually shed, was real. It was one of disgust. She hated herself for what she was about to say. She hated it because it trapped her, it would no doubt bother Miroku and Urahara to find about it and it was giving Suichiro what he wanted. Her.

"Then, perhaps next week, we can go out again and I can hear all about you, Suichiro-sama." She looked up at him, batting her eyes to make sure he saw the tears of sincerity. She only hoped her smile was as shy as she wanted. It felt more like an anguished grimace to her. "One date, to talk about someone else, and then you. Because I do want to know you, Suichiro-sama. I truly do."

He smiled at her and brushed her hair. "I will agree to that. When she shall we go?"

"Do you have any plans for the night after tomorrow? I would say tomorrow night, but I have a previous engagement. But on Thursday night, I can be all yours."

Sango was one more flattering, simpering sentence away from committing ritualistic suicide.

"And where shall I pick you up?" Suichiro scratched his head, realizing something. "I don't know where you live, or your phone number or anything!"

Just pick me up in front of the IBSP. I'll be the one dressed in something that covers me from head to toe, wires strapped to my chest and a piece to my right ankle. Sango touched her mouth to head the earnest smile blossoming there. She was afraid the sarcasm might show through. "Oh, dear. Well, you have my school email address. Email me where to meet you and I will meet you there. And pick a time. I really must be going. I've lost my friend… I'll have to go and find a rent-a-cop and report her missing."

He showed no concern for Sango's missing friend. Where was Akane when you needed her? Sangosuspected that Akane had found a Harlequin romance novel and was devouring it in the back of the store where no one would see her. "Why can't I pick you up at your house?"

The answer presented itself in such a shower of truthfulness—mixed with occasional fib, of course—that Sango thought it was a godsend. "It's my family, you see. They're always so overprotective of me. An hour goes by without hearing me and they think I've gone off and fallen in a ditch!" She laughed lightly, the kind of laugh she'd heard from Kagome only a few hours ago. "I would have to break the news to them. Their little girl has grown off and gotten herself a date. I'm afraid that they'd give you the third degree and you wouldn't like that. My uncle's a cop, after all. He knows how to give the third degree. And my other uncle is a genius. He no doubt has some kind of torturing device or truth serum somewhere. And then there's my brother. Oh, well. You know how brothers are. I'm afraid he'd go off and challenge you. No, best to make sure that I like you first and then they can meet you. If I like you, they'll have to accept you, now won't they?"

Suichiro looked as though the moon had just fallen into his lap. "Wow… that's some family. One girl and a house full of guys… no wonder you're such a tom boy sometimes. You know…" He paused, looking considerate. "I think that's the most I've ever you say in one sitting unless you were answering a question in science class."

"Oh, well, I'm shy but once you warm up to me…" She laughed again.

Suichiro took her hand and began to raise it to his lips. "I will go and make plans immediately. Until two days hence, Lady Sango." He lifted her hand the rest of the way and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. Sango let her arm go limp so that he would not feel her muscles tense as she tried to avoid a wince.

Oh, Sango had been kissed like that before, but Suichiro's kiss had been insincere and gross and… and slimy. Urahara may not have kissed like Miroku, but even his kisses weren't slimy. In fact,Suichiro's kiss wasn't even physically slimy. There had just been something about it that had made Sango recoil in sheer disg---

"Tora Sango, I didn't know you had it in you, you sly dog you!"

Sango spun to see Akane standing at the end of the row of books, grinning and popping a chocolate in her mouth as if she were at the movies. Sango growled at her. "Akane, you sound like your sister Nabiki!"

Akane merely grinned. "And I can shop like her too! Come on! We've got to get you some new clothes for you big, hot date with Sui-ii-chiro!"

Sango sighed. "Please, please don't remindme. How am I going to explain this to the others? 'Guys, I'm going out with a really hot guy who no doubt thinks the only reason why my marks are better than his is because in his world I sleep with my professors. After all, in his world a hot ass is the only thing going for me. I'm planning on interrogating him. Oh, don't worry if I happen to blow my cover by asking an intelligent question. I'm sure the cleavage I'm flashing him from the shirt Akane forced me to buy will distract him enough not to notice it's even me talking. Hell, Miroku, you could show up and ask him to order you a hot dog and so long as I act like I like him and show him some skin, he'll be as compliant as a puppy!'"

"You're really talkative today," Akane noted dryly.

"That's caused I'm pissed and I want to vomit!" Even as she said it she took another sip of her smoothie. By now it was more liquid than ice, but it was still refreshing and the sugar settled her stomach some. It was hard to be angry with sugar in one's system.

"Clothes shopping will make everything better."

Sango rolled her eyes as he friend once again ushered from one story and into another. "Akane, I have clothes. In fact, I have a closet full. I don't need any more."

"Uh-huh. I've seen your closet, Sango. Trust me. You need clothes for this date. Maybe if you were going to a funeral or to an interview for being a teacher. Hell, Sango, if you wanted to dress up like a Quaker and go and chop wood, I know you have the clothes to pull it off. Suichiro is a boy, not a banker! You need to get something that shows a bit of skin and complements your figure. Something a normal girl would wear on a date, not one of those business suits you own. And I know you have jeans, but Suichiro's got money, man. Do you really think he's going to take you WacDonald's or something? You need something fancy…. You need something fancy, in a skirt, in deep red… or maybe brown, with gold accents…"

Sango felt like she was being scrutinized by Akane as the other girl suddenly began to walk around Sango, assessing her from every angle. Akane then sighed. "I know just where to go to by clothes for you, Sango. I love the clothes they always have on display. I only wish that I could wear them. I'm too short and too… chubby to wear those clothes."

"Tendo Akane, how many times do I have to tell you? Just because you can't fit into a size 1 doesn't mean you're chubby! I can't fit into a size one, either!" Sango rolled her eyes. Akane didn't seem cheered up at all. In fact, she seemed to look more distraught than ever. Sango tried to find a new way of approaching her friend's hurt feelings.

Akane was by no means overweight, she was simply made of muscle; muscle which meant she couldn't fit into the stringy, lacy clothes which seemed to have become all the fashion. When they had been little, neither of them wouldn't have cared much. Both of them had preferred boys' clothes, but now that they were older, it was another matter entirely.

"Akane, if you were really fat, do you think that Ranma would have an interest in you? You are an attract…."

No sooner had she mentioned Ranma than Akane's hurt expression turned both hurt and angry, color flaring to her cheeks. "Ranma! That idiot! He… he's the one who called me chubby! He said I was too big and clumsy to catch him in a fight!"

For a moment she could hardly believe that Ranma would be callous enough to say such a thing. As Akane continued, explaining how Ranma had said she was as slow and dim-witted and as strong as an ox, Sango realized he could be so callous. Engrossed in the story of how Ranma had avoided Akane's blows and let her attack and follow him around and around the Tendo dojo, Sango inquired, "What did you do after he said that stuff to you?"

Akane's red blush turned deeper. "I punched that ill-sensitive pervert so hard he cracked the wooden plank when he touched down!" Sango must have looked shocked, for Akane continued: "Oh, he was alright, Sango! Ranma knows how to take a punch, but… but… arg! That boy confuses me!"

"I think he was just telling you that to get you mad."

"That's ridiculous! Ranma doesn't have enough wits to be able to… oh, now I'm off and doing it again. We just keep on insulting each other. I don't understand why."

Sango smiled at her friend and got ready to duck a blow she knew would come. "Ah, true love!" She collapsed into giggles as Akane's punch sailed over her head. After a second, Akane joined in.

But Sango could not avoid the shopping spree Akane still dragged her on.

"You don't have to help me with this," Miroku said, pouring over the old book Wufei had lent them. He was determined to scan the rest of the book, in case it held a new clue or incase it should ever come in handy again. Urahara had agreed to help him. Miroku didn't accept the help graciously because it confused him. Urahara was a techie. What purpose could he have in stopping his work and helping Miroku scan a book?

"It would take you far too long to be scan all this by yourself, accept every single page and save it." Urahara accepted another page and leaned back in his seat, scratching his hat. "Besides, I do have an interest in this book. I'll probably never get to see anything like this again." He leaned forward, reaching out and tracing the words upon the screen. "It makes… it makes everything feel so close, like you can just reach out and touch and hold the past. Hold it fast to you…"

He sighed with such wistfulness that Miroku looked up, a bit surprised. Urahara was shaking his head, continuing to work on the computer as Miroku scanned another page. He was in the middle of a page when the door opened. Both men turned around, ready to yell at the silly technician who had endangered their clean room, but found it was Sango.

Sango stared ahead at Urahara before she lowered her head, staring down at her feet. "I need to talk to you, Urahara-sama." Sango paused a moment, glancing uncomfortably at Miroku. "Alone."

She didn't miss how Miroku appeared injured at her words. It was hard to miss something so obvious. Miroku forced himself to nod, trying to look understanding. Oh, he did understand. He accepted that Urahara and Sango were friends and thus closer than he and Sango at the moment; he was trying to look understanding so he didn't look bitter. "I get it. Urahara, I'll be outside waiting for you two to finish so we can finish scanning the book."

"Sure, Miroku." Urahara waited patiently for the door to close. He pulled out a seat for Sango, but she continued standing. Sango nervously switched her weight from foot to foot.

"Urahara-sama, I'm afraid I've gone and done something stupid," she reported. "Do you remember Suichiro?"

He chuckled at the name. "I can recall you being fourteen years old and coming home all in a tiff, threatening to shove a frog down his throat if he flirted with you again. Yes, I recall you talking about Suichiro." He stiffly moved to lean against the desk, folding his arms over his chest.

"He's… he's a close friend of the first female victim, Urahara-sama. Akane and I have been trying to find out more about her for months, but it's been no use. But… but if we could question Soichiru more, more than what the cops did way back when the murder first happened. Then… then maybe we could find out something more, something to connect her to other potential suspects!"

Sango looked up at him, almost pleading him to understand. Urahara did, but not everything. "So you want to ask this boy… what, out on a date so that you can be with him on a one-on-one basis and try to drag information out of him?" He shook his head, his long, scruffy bangs brushing his nose as he did so. "It's a shot in the dark, Sango, but not impossible. So what's the real problem?"

"I…" Sango glanced down at the floor, and, finding the floor safe, she continued to stare at it. "I ran into him today. I pretended to be stupid and blonde—um, no offense, Urahara-sama—and I got him to agree to go out on a date with me. I feel like I used him, Urahara-sama! I've left my morals and I'm just abusing them and him. And worse, oh, Urahara-sama, so much worse, I'm…"

She couldn't go on. Sango lifted her eyes from the floor, her lips pressed together tightly to keep her secret from spilling. Urahara had taken off his hat again. His eyes were level and calm and a warm shade of silver-blue. Sango couldn't help it when she saw those kind, friendly eyes understanding her without saying anything, yet encouraging her to speak her heart. When he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her gently, Sango quite felt that Miroku never stood a chance. She loved Urahara far too much.

"I'm scared, Urahara-sama." She dried her eyes before she could start to cry. "I'm so scared…"

"That it's going to be like before?" he inquired gently. Sango nodded. Urahara knew just how to ease over those fears. "Sango, we will take every precaution not to have a reenactment of last time. First… first, you must call him up. Ask him where he's going to take you so we can make arrangements to have two crews inside. If he doesn't know where to go, you pick the place. We'll have the upper hand if we know the territory. If he wants to go to a movie theater, talk him out of it, no matter what. You're smart. You can do it. Movie theatres are dark and crowded. We won't be able to keep an eye for you like we can a less-crowded place, like a restaurant. Fuu needs to get out of the house. She's been cloistering herself for days and I know that Ferio wouldn't mind taking her out… especially on the company budget."

He tweaked her nose and Sango smiled at him. He continued to plot out loud. "I don't think you can hide a gun on your persons… maybe in a hand-bag. Take a knife. If need be, don't be afraid to use your claws, either. Sesshomaru should understand if you start changing out of self-defense. We'll have you wired for both picture and sound. That way we'll have a record of everything and we can hear what's going on. Fuu will be there in case we lose radio contact. God bless telepaths. I'll be there in the getaway car out front making sure that all the equipment is running smoothly. Still… I'm afraid that Miroku, Ranma, and Akane are going to have to come too."

Urahara knew that Sango would prefer doing this as discreetly as possible, but he never expected her to get so pale when he mentioned Miroku's name. He couldn't help but lose a bit of momentum. She did care about Miroku, no matter how cold to him she seemed. She cared about what he thought of her, and was ashamed that he'd now think she was some kind of a trollop for maneuvering a guy to dinner while two of her co-workers continued to vie for her attention.

"But why?"

"For one, they are your partners. Ranma and Akane are wonderful combatants. They'll be stationed inside the restaurant as well. If things get too out of hand, they'll be there as your secondary back up. I say secondary because I don't want to have to explain to Sesshomaru why a restaurant is sending him a bill for damages to half of their restaurant. Miroku and I will be your primary back up, to get you out of their peacefully."

Sango gave a little sneer, but her voice wavered. She was only faking her disgust with having Miroku come with them. "I still don't see why Miroku has to come. He's not going to be any help, you know."

"Oh, yes he will. Miroku can read people, Sango. Between him watching the video relay and Fuu inside the restaurant, we'll be able to pick up on any lie he makes. That means you can continue on those tracks until we find out the truth. He'll also serve to read any malicious intent that Suichiro has, if any. Perhaps this is going too far, but after what happened last time…" Urahara reached out and gently stroked her hair, leaning down and kissing her forehead. "I'd prefer keeping you safe and protected to having something bad happen to you."

He wrapped his arms around Sango and kissed her. She didn't complain, and kissed him back, holding on to him as if he might magically disappear. Urahara would never let any harm come to Sango, not while there was life in his limbs.