Chapter 20: Worry

I looked up as some one knocked on the door to my apartment, and pulled a strand of my short hair back behind my ear, since it wouldn't reach the band that held the rest of my hair at the base of my neck.

"Coming." I called, as I stood and put my book down next to my chair. I was curious as to who could be at my apartment. I had only been here a few weeks and had made a conscious effort to avoid my neighbors as much as possible. I wasn't sure if the people in the neighborhood would be understanding about my old problem, or if they would just see it as a chance to ridicule me. I walked over to the door and opened it.

Sango was standing outside my door, wearing a light windbreaker and some casual clothes. Her hair was also pulled up into a high ponytail, which I could only remember seeing her wear when she was doing work around her house. I guess I had sort of missed it.

"Hello, Miroku." Sango smiled.

"Ah, Sango. Uh, what are you doing here?" I asked in confusion.

"Sesshomaru offered me a job… and I took it."

"You're my bodyguard?" I asked, frowning a little. "I didn't know you could fight."

"It's been a while, but I can use a firearm and I am fit. I used to live in a village of demon hunters. I thought they were all crazy until a few weeks ago." Sango laughed awkwardly. I smiled and laughed too, while I glanced over her shoulder and noticed a few people in my building were watching us.

"Do you want to come in, or…"

"Maybe we should go for a walk." Sango blushed, and I nodded.

"Come in, while I get my coat." I replied and she entered my apartment.

"It's very empty." Sango noted as I picked up my book and closed it, so that time and gravity wouldn't bend the spine.

"I suppose so. It seems Koharu put all my personal things into storage and kept everything else."

"Really?"

"Yes. She called yesterday." I added, as I pulled on my coat and grabbed my key ring, which had my house keys and my car keys. "Turns out, she got married to one of the doctors at the institute and eloped with him once the divorce was finalized. They've been married about five months now."

"So, I guess that means…" Sango trailed off as she did the math.

"That Koharu was having an affair?" I finished as I turned off my lights and locked the door to my apartment. Nodding to show I was ready to go, Sango turned and we walked down the stairs and out onto the street. The sun had finished setting, and now the street lamps were casting their light across the streets and sidewalk. "Yes. I suppose it was inevitable. She said she was willing to stay with me, but my insanity was simply the straw that tipped the scale. I don't blame her. Who wants a husband who has been locked away?"

I laughed. Most people might expect me to be upset of even angry, but I wasn't really. The marriage between Koharu and I was never the best to begin with. Some might even have described it as being on the rocks. Besides, if I was in love with Sango while I was married to Koharu, could I really blame her for looking around? I wasn't a hypocrite!

I noticed that Sango and I were walking towards the local park and smiled. I wasn't sure what the park was called, and I had never actually been there, but I had a great view of it from my window, and I sometimes watched the children play on the fields. It almost reminded me of the park near my childhood home.

It was a nice area, but not storybook-nice. It was actually just a large grassy field with a playground and some picnic tables at one end. There were a few trees, but they were mostly around the picnic tables or near the sidewalk. We walked over to one of the picnic tables that were near a large boulder. I hopped up on top of the boulder, which caused Sango to roll her eyes and sit next to where I was standing.

"You don't seem upset about Koharu's marriage." Sango said after a second.

"Should I be?" I asked, slightly puzzled. "She's happy, isn't she?"

"Never mind. So, what have you been doing lately? I haven't seen you in about two weeks."

'Twelve days.' I mentally corrected her.

"Nothing really. I mostly just stayed inside and tried to get everything back in order. It's harder to get started then it is to stop."

"I'm sorry."

"What? Why? You haven't done anything."

"I shouldn't have helped them lock you up."

"But I was crazy, to an extent."

"Maybe." Sango shrugged and we lapsed into a comfortable silence.

"Do you remember when we meet?"

"You mean when I moved into my house."

"Yes."

"Well, you hit on me."

"Ah, yes." I sighed at the memory. "I thought your brother was going to punch me. I'm so glad you beat him to it."

"That's a really bad pun, Miroku."

"I know, but I did have a black eye for a week. I figure I'd better get something out of it."

"I wouldn't have punched you if your hand had stayed where they belonged." Sango laughed. "I can't believe that that was almost four years ago."

"I can." I nodded. "I can."

I looked up at the stars and back down at Sango. She was really lovely in the starlight, and I was going to tell her so, but some movement caught my eye.

I looked over at the tall man who was walking towards us. He was wearing a T-shirt and jeans, and I probably wouldn't have given him a second glance, except that he carried a gourd bottle at his hip and he was heading in my direction.

"Excuse me." The man called once he was close enough that I could see his face. "Could you tell me where Rockland Lane is? I'm a little confused."

"It's back that way." I explained, even though something was tugging at the back of my mind. The man pulled on his gourd and took a sip, before looking in the direction I had pointed. "Head towards the tallest apartment complex and go past it one block. You can't miss it."

The man nodded his thanks and walked a few steps away. I look down at Sango, and noticed that she hadn't taken her eyes off the man. I bent my knees so I could whisper into her ear.

"Sango, there's something about that man…" I began, but Sango had already roughly grabbed my around the waist and had tossed me behind the boulder as a jet of flame raced past where I had been. I heard a gun shot as I hit the ground and Sango landed onto of me. She rolled off me, and while I tried to catch my breath, I saw that Sango was holding an automatic in her right hand and clutching her right leg with her left hand. "Sango?"

"I think… I broke it." Sango whispered, as she twisted quickly and fired a couple shots.

"You okay?" I asked, as I crawled over so I could look her in the eye.

"I'll… I'm not sure if I can stay conscious much longer, but if I pass out, we'll die. Miroku, you're going to have to… help me." Sango coughed, as she tried to raise her gun.

"But I can't shoot."

"You don't have to." Sango whispered. "Just help me… hold the gun."

I nodded and wrapped my arms around her shoulders and helped her hold the weapon. It felt a little awkward and uncomfortable, not that I didn't like the feel of Sango in my arms. I just knew that it was not the time to appreciate the feel of her. That and I knew that I would slow Sango down with shooting.

"On the count of three." Sango nodded and began to count. We fired a couple times, until, miraculously, we managed to hit our attacker in the neck. There was something that resembled a mini-explosion of light and when our eyes cleared, there was a pile of bones, some scorch marks, a few burning patches of grass and a pink sliver of glass. I walked over, picked up the piece of glass and kicked the bones a bit, to make sure the bastard was dead, when I heard a soft slap and looked over to see Sango slumped against the boulder.

I checked her breathing and sighed when that was all right. I couldn't rouse her, and I remember what she had said about her leg, so I stomped out the burning areas of grass and returned to Sango's side. I slipped one arm around her back and another under her knees, so that I was holding her bridal style. I stumbled a little as I tried to get to my car, not because she was heavy, but because a year of living in the asylum with limited exercise had left me with weak muscles.

I looked down as Sango stirred and moaned a little in her sleep.

"It'll be all right, Sango. I'm taking you to the hospital. You're going to be fine. I promise." I whispered, in case she was conscious enough to hear me as I placed her in the passenger seat of my car, careful not to jostle her leg anymore than necessary. "Please, just don't be…"

I stopped for a moment, unsure what I didn't want her to be; I wasn't sure.

"Don't be anything other than yourself." I finished, almost smacking myself for being so stupid.