Tomodachi
by
Nana
Chapter 3
Too Late
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Author's Notes: Here's the third chapter.^^ In this fic, I have decided to make Miroku and Kagome's relationship a little bit OOC. In the manga/anime, they have always treated each other with a great deal of respect, but since they are classmates here, I have taken the liberty to make Miroku a wee bit more sarcastic. Hope you guys don't mind.
Disclaimer: You guys know this already!
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Miroku recoiled slightly from Kagome's outburst, an expression of blank surprise on his face.
A few heads turned curiously at their direction, but Kagome did not even so much as change her ferocious expression or look away from Miroku.
"What was that all about?" He managed when he recovered.
He stole a look at Sango, relieved (and a little disappointed?) to see that she had not noticed Kagome's little tirade just then.
"Didn't you say you were thinking of asking her out to the prom?" Kagome said loudly.
Miroku suppressed a sigh. Letting Kagome in on that plan had been a mistake. Then again, it had all started with Kagome--rather, it had all started as a way of getting rid of Kagome.
She had done very little else during the past few days except to bug him on it. Ever since he got dumped by his two simultaneous girlfriends, Kagome had jumped in and started campaigning for Sango.
Over the years, Miroku had endured her cajoling and occasional taunts as good-naturedly as possible, but he realized she wasn't going to let go until he finally agreed to give this prom thing with Sango a shot. And so he had shaken off Kagome by giving his word that he was going to ask her out.
What he never really admitted to anyone was the fact that the more he turned the idea over in his head, the more appealing it seemed to become. The problem now was how to ask Sango without getting burned…
And now here was Kagome, getting all panicky over a guy talking to Sango.
Well, jeez! Thought Miroku. Hadn't she hung out with Sango long enough to realize the guy was going to be toast sooner or later?
"Well?" cried Kagome imperiously, dragging him out of his thoughts and back into the immediate present. "Have you?"
"No," he said calmly. He did not offer a word of explanation.
"Well, you'd better hurry up then," said Kagome, throwing a look over her shoulder at Takeda. " I don't like the look of this. He's way too cute, way too tall, and way too nice."
"Gee, thanks," said Miroku sarcastically.
"I mean seriously! Look at him! Look at Sango!" Kagome said, pointing.
Indeed, Sango seemed to be enjoying the guy's company. Miroku had never seen her look so animated. Recess was nearly over and she had not done anything to drive him away. Miroku had to admit that was most unusual.
Amidst the varying noise level of the class, the sound of Sango's laughing voice drifted by. And try as he might, Miroku could not stop his brows from gathering into a faint frown.
Just then, and quite mercifully, the bell sounded to herald the end of recess.
"Well, now you know what you're up against," Kagome told Miroku before she made her way back to her seat. "Gambatte kudasai."
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Terada Miroku was a patient person, but all things had to have a limit somewhere along the way. Right now, his patience was being sorely tested by the hour-long English period.
After English came a grueling session of Japanese History, and he still could not find a way to talk to Sango.
Japanese History gave way to lunch break, and he heaved a sigh of relief.
Finally!
Oh hey, wait a minute, where was she going??
Sango was standing up, walking out of the classroom. This time, without anyone giving him a nudge, Miroku followed her.
From her seat, Kagome watched as he took off, and sighed.
It took him a while to get on the case, but he's finally getting there, Kagome thought as she took a bite out of her lunch.
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"Hey!" Somebody sounded from behind her, and for an instant, Sango froze.
He's really talkative, isn't he? She thought, feeling a warm, self-conscious blush beginning to creep on her cheeks. First it was recess and now this!
When she turned, though, she found that it was Miroku. For a moment, she blinked, quite surprised. How she could have mistaken Terada Miroku for Takeda Kuranosuke was, for the moment, beyond her.
"Hey there," she returned.
"I've been meaning to talk to you the whole day," he said. "Only, I never got the chance during recess."
At those words, Sango turned to look at him. He was staring straight ahead, not meeting her sharp gaze, a small enigmatic smile on his lips.
"Really?" Sango asked him. "This promises to be interesting. What is it?"
Miroku bit his lip. Okay, here it goes…
"Remember what I said this morning during basketball practice? About asking this one other girl out for the prom?" He said.
Sango slanted him a look. Did he come all the way here just to tell her that? Couldn't she even go to the girls' bathroom in peace?
She wasn't really sure if she wanted to hear it just now, but…oh well. Might as well get it over with.
"Whoever can the poor creature be?" She asked, affecting an air of innocent interest.
Miroku refused to be derailed.
Oh no, you don't. Not this time. You're going to hear this one out--
Before he could even begin, though, Miroku fell under heavy attack. His assailants came from three different sides, and there was absolutely no way he could dodge them.
"Terada-senpai!" A chorus of voices landed on his ears as a couple of girls swooped down on the stunned basketball captain.
A couple of feet away, Sango stared on with arched eyebrows.
"Wow, even now, I still have to hazard a guess from these three, huh?" She asked. "Or perhaps you were thinking of asking all three of them at once?"
"Its--it's not what you think!" Miroku tried to explain, but Sango had seen and heard enough.
"Whatever. Once you make up your mind you can always tell me tomorrow," she said indifferently. Turning away, she resumed her interrupted walk.
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"What happened?" Kagome asked when Miroku was finally able to make his way back to their classroom.
"I got attacked!" He wheezed.
Sango had gotten back much earlier, but that was not what had Kagome worried.
"She came back with Takeda in tow, did you know that?" she hissed to Miroku.
"What the hell was he doing out?" Miroku wanted to know.
"Why does anyone ever go out during lunch breaks?" snapped Kagome.
"Relax. I'm sure nothing happened. He couldn't have done anything in that short period," said Miroku.
"I wouldn't be that confident, if I were you," warned Kagome.
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Miroku finally caught up with Sango that afternoon when they were on the way to their club activities.
"This is turning into a habit," observed Sango dryly as Miroku drew level with her. "What is it now?"
"The prom," he said, but he was no longer smiling.
"What is it with you and this prom thing?" Sango said, turning to him.
"Look, Sango. No more beating around the bush. Would you like to go to the prom with me?" he asked bluntly.
"What?!"
"I mean it," he said seriously.
"Why?" Sango managed.
"I--I've thought it over," he said, bulldozing his way through in an effort to get the whole thing over and done with. "I mean, we've been friends for six years and yet we never did get to do anything together except for those early morning shootouts. I'm sure you're at least curious about all this dating stuff, so how about it?"
She stood there for a good minute, and Miroku was starting to think she had been shocked out of her habitual sharpness when she said, "Why would I want to go with you?"
Miroku blinked. "What…do you mean why?" he said.
"I mean why are you asking me?" Sango seemed genuinely confused…and suspicious.
"Because…! Look, I know you don't have a date…and it just so happened I don't have one, too, so I thought--"
Sango held up a hand. "I'm going," she said.
Miroku relaxed visibly. "Great! So--"
"I didn't say I'm going with you though," she continued. "I'm going with somebody else."
For a moment, words failed Miroku as he took this in. "Okay," he said slowly, beginning to smile. "You're kidding me, right?"
Sango continued to stare at him tersely.
This is not happening, thought Miroku, dazed.
"I mean, who--?"
Miroku stopped as it hit him.
"That new guy…"
"Yes, that new guy," agreed Sango.
"Why?"
"Because he asked me, that's why," said Sango, beginning to get irritated.
"I'm asking you now," he pressed in.
"You're too late!" she snapped.
"He was here for just a day!" Miroku pointed out. "I can't believe you'd give in to somebody whom you just met for a day versus somebody whom you've known for six years!"
"Look, how was I supposed to know you were going to ask?" she said, exasperated. "In all these six years we've known each other, you never did. Not even once!"
Miroku paused from whatever he it was he was going to say, and stared at Sango.
"Is that what this is all about?" he asked slowly.
She let out an exasperated sigh.
"You may find this hard to believe, but the answer is no," Sango said. "You were just late, that's all. Besides, why would you want to go with me when you've got your whole harem to choose from?"
With that, she turned and went her way.
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That stupid idiot…Sango thought as she made her way to the practice field.
How many times during the whole day had she called him that in her thoughts?
In fact, she had been thinking along that vein earlier in the day when Takeda Kuranosuke had asked her to the prom.
She had just left Miroku behind to his mooning fans in the corridor, and she had dodged into the girls' comfort room.
Miroku, that baka…! She thought as she washed her hands in the basin.
She couldn't imagine he would go out of his way to tell her something that he could always tell her some other time.
Normally, they didn't speak much within school walls. He was always beset with people following him around--friends from basketball, a horde of admirers. Usually, a brief smile and a rare wink were all she ever got when they met.
Sango sighed as she stared at the mirror before her, feeling her mind straying just a bit.
There was a time when they had not been like this, when they had talked and kidded the same way they did every morning in the park
Don't even think about it…she thought as she resolutely turned away from the mirror and left the bathroom.
Sango started when she came out of the bathroom to find this guy looking at the nearby bulletin board. She had earlier mistaken Takeda for Miroku, and now, for just a moment, she thought the person standing there was Miroku, but it was not.
She should have known he wouldn't have been able to tear away from his admirers that fast to come after her. It just wasn't in him to do that.
The person who stood a few feet away was Takeda Kuranosuke, and he was looking at the poster of the coming prom.
He seemed just as surprised to find her standing there, but then he recovered and smiled, pointing at the poster.
"Seems like I came at a rather late time," he said. "This is slated for next week already."
"It's been the talk of the whole school lately," Sango allowed.
"Are you going?" he asked.
"Who, me?" Sango asked, then laughed. "I think not."
"Why not?"
Sango became uncomfortable, but before she could say anything, Takeda said, "I was kind of imagining a score of guys dying to take you out."
She let out a bitter laugh. "Obviously you don't know me well enough," she said softly.
Takeda stared at her. "Would you like to go with me then?" He asked.
Sango crossed her arms, feeling it was time she whacked this guy back to earth.
"And do you always use this line with all the girls you've met for the first time?" she asked archly.
"Well, no," he said, his voice open and honest. "Just with you."
Sango stared at him, her heart suddenly going like she had just run the track field.
"I--I know this is too sudden," continued Takeda, "and I'm sure you think I'm being too fast. Only, I really enjoy talking with you. I think it would be really great to know you better. No strings attached, I promise! Is that…is that all right?"
"You're being too fast," was all Sango could think to say, repeating his words.
"I know," he said. "But for all it's worth, would you like to think it over? I can wait…"
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I can wait…
Sango came out of the school building to find the sun streaming down on the quiet, tree-lined path to the practice field.
And there he was, already waiting.
She had not been prepared for Miroku's proposition, and in the end, she had come to resent him for the reasons that he had given for wanting to take her out to the prom.
He was doing it for old times' sake (or something like that), and in comparison to the reasons of the boy standing before her now, there was no contest really.
"Sango," Takeda said in greeting.
And she gave him a sunny smile. "I've decided," she said.
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