Recap: Miroku made it to Modern Tokyo, but as a result, he became invisible.

On the Other Side

A fiction by Syaoran no Hime

Chapter 6: You May Not See Me, But…

Kagome looked at her friend worriedly. "At first, I thought he was just..well, your butler or something..but am I right to infer that he is your father?"

Sango looked down. "Yes, he is." She looked at her younger brother who joined her dad and Houjo. "And even Kohaku is here, but I have no idea why and how."

"Then this is not real!" cried Kagome. "You have to go back into the well and correct all of these!"

"I can't!" cried the exterminator. "I'm happy living here already!"

"Happy living in a fantasy world?" she shot back.

The youkai huntress bit her lip. "You are here talking to me. This is real."

"Sango.."

"Besides, there is nothing that would change. I'm still the Sango you guys know, even if I live here already. You guys can come visit me."

"But what about Shippou and Kirara?" asked Kagome. "And Miroku-sama?"

She frowned. "I don't think he will miss me. In fact, he might thank me for disappearing from his life. At least he already got rid of his pain in the neck."

"That's not true! He wants to see you again, Sango! Really, he does! He even asked-" Kagome covered her mouth upon remembering that she promised the monk that she wouldn't tell the girl about the favor he asked her to do.

The huntress looked away. "Don't lie, Kagome," she said softly. "I-I might believe you." She looked out at the window. "And I'm telling you, when it comes to him, I become the most gullible person in the world."

Miroku groaned. "Ah, damn it! Is there some kind of cosmic humor happening here? Why did I become invisible?"

Inu Yasha laughed wickedly. "Serves you right, you perverted monk!" He smiled sarcastically. "Well at least you wouldn't have to worry when you engage in your peeping activities again. They won't see you."

"There's an idea," said the monk with interest.

"But Sango won't see you," the dog boy reminded him.

"Even if I am visible, I don't think she'll bother even glancing at my way," said Miroku sourly. "Now that Houjo boy is here."

"Jealous?"

"No, Inu Yasha, why should I be?" he snapped. "Anyway, maybe I better get started on your brilliant idea." He started to walk away when they both heard the door open.

"Take care on your way home, you two. Houjo, maybe you should visit us again sometime so we can play again. You are not bad for a chess sparring partner," said Sango's father kindly.

The boy smiled. "Thank you, sir."

The man smiled then entered the house.

Kagome walked towards Inu Yasha. "Hi there, boy! Did we keep you waiting?"

"Stop talking like that, Kagome, I'm telling you! I might bite you!" threatened Yasha under his breath.

She ignored the dog boy and dragged him away. "Come on, I'm taking you home so you can have a treat! I'm going to prepare an all-meat dinner for you!" she said cheerfully.

Houjo and Sango were left alone in the doorstep.

"Your father is really nice," began Houjo, blushing uncomfortably.

"Y-Yes."

"And well..you are too."

"T-Thank you."

"And you are very pretty," he continued.

"Oh." She blushed.

He looked down on the ground, face heating up. "I'm sorry if I'm being very outspoken. I-I just..admire you very much."

"Y-You do?" she stammered.

Silence.

"You do?" echoed the monk.

Miroku looked at the couple with narrowed eyes. He was standing right beside Sango, arms crossed. "So you're going to make a move on her, huh?"

He saw the couple's face panic.

"D-Did you hear something?" asked Houjo.

Sango nodded and looked around.

"Maybe you should go into your room now," he suggested. "It's not safe for you to be out here."

"You too," said the exterminator.

"Goodnight, Ms.Sango." He made a quick kiss on her cheek and left.

Sango's eyes widened as she touched her hot cheeks. "G-Goodnight."

The monk couldn't help but speak up again. "Why did you let him do that to you?" he barked.

Her eyes grew wide. She shook her head vehemently. "No, I'm just hearing things."

His face fell. Why does she keep on rejecting his attempts to communicate with her?

Shippou perked up when it sensed another presence. It was Kaede.

"That well is very mysterious," began the old woman. "Its powers are beyond imagination, but I know one thing. The well connects the hearts of two people who are in love with each other. The well's powers are derived from the most powerful emotion that the heart is capable of: love."

"Just like Kagome and Inu Yasha," said the kitsune.

"That is right. The well works in mysterious ways, but always it never fails to do its job."

Shippou smiled hopefully. "Maybe that will happen to Miroku and Sango too!"

Kaede's eyes narrowed. "But of course, there's always the first time for the well. Nobody and nothing is perfect, you know."

Shippou narrowed its eyes too. No magic can figure out the love angle of a perverted monk and a hot-tempered youkai huntress.

"What?!!"

Inu groaned. "Yup, I'm sure the bouzo is witnessing that Houjo and Sango's torrid kisses now."

"Torrid?! Inu Yasha, you pick the worst adjectives to use!" Kagome snapped, then sighed. "It's all my fault! Poor Miroku-sama."

"So what do we do?" the dog boy asked.

"I don't know..I have no idea."

Inu Yasha sighed. "I don't have time for this trivial stuff. We still have to find the remaining pieces of the shikon. Why should I bother with somebody else's love life anyway?"

"Because these people bothered themselves with your love life too!" shot Kagome back. "Hah! They gave you advice on what to do with Kikyou-"

"Hey! Kikyou is not part of our argument!"

Kagome crossed her arms. "What-ever!"

Sango took shaky breaths to calm herself. "Houshi-sama is not here. Houshi-sama is not here. Houshi-sama is not here," she repeated over and over.

Miroku watched her, eyes narrowed. "I am too!"

Sango placed her hands over her ears. "He's not here!"

"I am here," he replied. "Geez, you sure are stubborn!"

She plopped down her bed. "Why do I keep on hearing his voice?"

"Because I'm speaking, Sango," he replied.

"I'm not suppose to think about him anymore," she said to herself. "I know very well that he's never going to do the same thing for me."

Miroku fell silent.

"He sees me only as Sango, the youkai exterminator whose rear he always wants to touch. Sango, the alternative to the other women he meets. Sango, just a..just a.."

"Just a..?" he prompted. He wanted to know more about her thoughts. The exterminator was very thrifty with her words when it comes to her feelings.

She wiped a lone tear that escaped her eye. "He will never look at me the way I look at him. He will never think of me the way I think of him. So why am I crying?"

The monk knelt down in front of her and wiped her tear with his finger. "Yes, why are you crying, Sango?"

Time seemed to freeze.

For a moment, the monk thought that she was looking at him directly. She held out her hand shakily to reach out for him.

Then the phone beside her rang. She dried her tears and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hi there, Ms.Sango!" the voice greeted on the other end of the line. "A-Are you crying?"

"H-How did you know?"

"I just do. So why are you crying?"

"I.." She exhaled slowly. "..my head hurts."

"Take your medicine, ok?"

Sango smiled. "Thanks, Houjo."

Miroku stood up. "One of these days, I'll strangle that boy!" He sat on the windowpane to listen to their conversation.

"Meet tomorrow?" said Sango.

"Yes. I'm going to tell you something important," said the boy.

"S-Sure."

"Tomorrow morning, at 7 am. Would that be ok?"

"Yes. Where are we going to meet?"

Houjo told her the place.

And Miroku noted every detail of their date.

Kagome placed the phone down. "Busy. Sango is speaking with another person. Maybe I'll try to tell Sango about Miroku tomorrow."

No reply. She turned around and saw Inu Yasha sleeping while cradling Souta whom he was playing with awhile ago. She smiled to herself. She covered the two with her blanket and gazed at them.

The two most important men in her life after her father.

"I love you," she whispered before lying down on her own bed.

Miroku watched as Sango rested on her bed. He watched as she unbraided her hair and combed them slowly with her fingers.

Oh, how his heart ached for her.

He had never realized this before because he was so used to seeing her with him. He had never thought that this day would come.

She lied down and shut her eyes. He approached her and sat down on her bed, careful not to put too much weight so he would wake her up.

Then he bent down and kissed her forehead. "Goodnight, Sango."

Sango blinked when she felt something touch her forehead. She then felt something brush her bangs away from her face gently. Then she heard a soft whisper bade her goodnight.

But strangely, she felt warm all over. Slumber pulled her consciousness away. "Goodnight," she whispered back.

Tsuzuku