Author's Note: Lookit, everyone! An update! Hurrah!!! Wow, I'm realizing that the earlier chapters of this story must really suck if you only know half of what's going on. Want to know why? Because you're sitting there, thinking, "This doesn't make any sense! Why is it so flitty? –sniffle- My brain hurts." Ok, so, things aren't explained that much more in this chapter, but if things start going according to plan (which they have not done up to now. Seriously, in my original plan, this would be chapter 2, not 4), then things will be explained more in the next chapter. This chapter does have some random parts in it that I just really wanted to add and I know that you all are going to want to kill me at the end of it, but please don't. I mean, if I'm dead, I can't write more, can I? (This comment was mostly directed to FluffyLemonn who probably will try to kill me. Remember, I have mad fu skills!) Oh yeah, and I didn't do any scene changes in this chapter. Aren't you proud of me?
KaguraImmortal: I'm also sad that I couldn't put Kagura in that chapter, but, when I tried to, it just didn't work. She will be in at least half of the next chapter though – or at least how it's playing out in my mind she is – and after that, she'll keep making steady appearances. Yeah, and this story is supposed to be mostly Sango and Miroku. So I get distracted…. Sue me. And don't worry, I don't mind that you're sort of stalking me. It's flattering in a strange, twisted way.
Surfergurl16: Sorry I couldn't update sooner. Too much school and what not. But still, here's a new chapter.
FluffyLemonn: New chapter? –shifty eyes- Well… I've got this one now! Yay! But, after you read it, you'll probably tie me to my chair so that I'm forced to update sooner. I blame school entirely!!
Burnkikyou: Of course Kagura was Sesshoumaru's girlfriend. Don't the two of them make the most awesome couple in the series in a sort of twisted… evil… "I hate you, but not really" sort of way? --;;
Aamalie: Hey, it's ok that you missed a chapter. Don't even worry about it. I had lots of fun making Miroku uber sweet although I really was expecting someone to review and be like, "MIROKU WAS OOC! WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM? RAWR!!!!" Thank God no one did as of now. Phew.
Disclaimer: I own InuYasha… No, that's not right… I don't own InuYasha… Still doesn't quite say it. I KNOW! I shall never in a hundred years own InuYasha or make money off of it. There, much better.
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The sunlight poured into the small hospital room, the drapes having been pulled back earlier that day. Sango sat up in her bed, shifting against the pillows along her back in a vain attempt to find a position that she was comfortable in. In her lap was her black sketchbook, open to a fresh page. Her hand flew over the page, light pencil marks indicating vaguely where she wanted to place the image in her mind.
She closed her eyes, trying to envision something while her pencil hovered just above the paper. Creasing her eyebrows together, she bent forward and added a few more rapid lines. She was so focused on her work that she didn't notice the door open or anyone enter until the doctor cleared her throat.
Sango looked up, instantly closing her notebook and setting it on her night stand. "Yes?"
"I've filled out your release forms," the elderly woman said, tapping her knuckles against the clipboard she held in her arms along with an odd bundle of clothes. "You're free to go."
A happy smile came onto her lips as she leaned her head back against the pillows and mouthed a silent, "Thank you."
Kaede shook her head in amusement. "There are only a few things for you to sign before you leave. Your friend left these for you to change into."
She left the clothes draped over the footboard and set her clipboard down on the night stand before exiting. Sango shoved the blankets off and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Her body convulsed in shivers when her barefeet touched the cold floor and she looked over at the pile of clothes, nothing more than sweat pants and a baggy shirt and a pair of old flip-flops for her to wear on her feet.
It wasn't like she had been expecting much. She and Kagome never could fit into each other's clothes properly.
Still, sweat pants or not, she was eager to be able to change out of her papery hospital gown and be able to wear some real clothes. She shed her gown, dropping it on the floor, and pulled on the pants and shirt. Stepping into the flip-flops, she pulled her long hair out from under her collar.
"Alright, what's all this?" she murmured to herself, flipping through the packet of papers and skimming over it. They basically were only things for her to sign so that she wouldn't sue the hospital if she felt at all sick after leaving and other things like that. All unnecessary in her opinion, but they probably had a reason for having them. Hardly reading any of the information, she signed her name a few times before picking up her sketchbook and pencil and walking out the door.
God, even after only being conscious for a few days she couldn't wait to leave. She could hardly imagine what kind of aggravation the conscious long-term patients felt.
She walked past the desk, the nurse on the phone glancing up in her direction as she walked by before going back to her phone call.
"No, I told you there isn't any new news on her... Yes... I know... Hold on a second," she said, putting a hand to the phone as she realized just who walked by. "Miss Taijiya? Wait a second! ... No, she's still out. I'll call you when she comes to. Good bye. Miss Taijiya!"
Sango stopped, looking over at the nurse expectantly as she shifted through papers to find something.
"Just a second, miss Taijiya, it's right here..."
"What is?"
"Something a friend of yours brought."
She bent her eyebrows together. "Who?"
"I don't know. Someone with black hair... up in a bun... red eyes I think," the nurse replied, voice trailing off in a murmur to herself. Sango felt her blood run cold as the young nurse smiled and stood, holding a red and white fan in her hand.
"When did she give this to you?"
The nurse shrugged a shoulder, shaking her head in apology. "I don't know. I was on the phone. Just a few hours ago probably."
The teenager couldn't explain the way her hand shook as she reached out for the fan, nor how it was suddenly so difficult for her to swallow.
"Th-thank you," she finally managed to say, forcing a smile.
"Miss Taijiya, is something wrong?" the nurse asked in concern. "Are you unable to leave?"
"No... No, I'll be fine. Thank you."
The young nurse bit her lip as Sango walked down the hall, wondering if she should do anything to stop her. However, yet another phone call distracted her attention.
"Hello, Midoriko Hospital, comatose ward, may I help you?"
Sango waited somewhat anxiously for the elevator, tapping the fan against her palm. Nearly all the energy she had regained was suddenly spent entirely on remaining calm and not panicking. It was the last thing she needed to do at the moment.
But she couldn't stop her blood from freezing at the mere thought that the demon responsible for her father and brother's deaths had known exactly where she was and had stopped by. God, for all she knew, someone could be following her and watching her every second of the day.
It was ironic how much she felt like a fugitive even though she had done nothing wrong.
"Just relax," Sango murmured to herself, stepping into the elevator and leaning against the back wall. She shook her head slightly, forcing herself to be happy when she saw her friends again - they didn't have to know that her nerves were so strained that she was talking to herself.
By the time that the elevator doors opened to the lobby, Sango was nothing but smiles with the fan held loosely, purposely casually, in one of her hands. She took a few steps toward the sign on the wall across from her, then turned in the direction that pointed to the main doors.
But she had hardly gone another three steps before she heard a high-pitched voice shouting her name and found herself nearly tackled to the ground in a giant hug.
"Oh my God, Sango!! I can't believe they're letting you out! You're actually going to be able to-" she gushed out, cheeks flushed from excitement and her voice probably an octave higher than usual.
"Kagome, give her some air," Miroku interrupted wisely, pulling the two apart, a steadying hand remaining on Sango's back. She smiled, eyes crinkling in the corners as they rarely did, but her smile faltered as Miroku's hand slowly began sliding down her spine. "After all, she is still weak and tired."
One of her eyebrows began twitching. As his hand brushed along the waistband of her pants, she suddenly spun around and shouted shrilly as she slapped him viciously across the face.
Miroku closed his eyes in a wince and gently touched the hand shaped welt that popped up along his cheek. "Hm, a bit less painful than usual. Have you lost your touch or are my nerves slowly dying off?"
"Probably both," she muttered under her breath, rubbing her hand in the other as the fan hung off her pinky.
"Hey, Sango, where'd you get that?"
She glanced up at Kagome, instantly dropping her hands and trying to nonchalantly twirl the fan between her fingers. "Oh... Uh... Someone brought it for me."
She smiled, nodding her head. "Who was that?"
"Just an old friend." Her smile faltered slightly as she hoped that Kagome would no longer pry into the topic.
Her friend, on the other hand, seemed to have fallen into one of her oblivious phases. "Do I know 'em?"
"Yeah - No! ... I don't know," she stuttered, a flustered look coming to her eyes.
Her blue-eyed friend only tilted her head to the side curiously and looked thoughtful for a moment.
"I mean, I haven't seen her in a while. I don't know if I ever introduced you."
A pause followed until Miroku cleared his throat.
"Is she attractive? I mean, I would certainly remember a pretty face. In fact, if I saw her again in close proximity, I'd even be able to tell you if I knew her just from how her-"
"Aiee! Pervert!" Smack!
"Sango, you misunderstand me-"
"As does my butt?"
"But of course. Allow me to fix that."
Smackity smack!
Kagome slapped a hand to her forehead and slowly dragged it down, wincing all the while. "Guys... people are starting to stare..."
A bright red blush leapt to her friend's cheeks and she quickly pushed past the two of them, walking quickly towards the main doors.
"Alright, nothing to see, go back to your work... and waiting for people... and... and... whatever you were doing!" Kagome said quickly, waving her hands in the air as she followed Sango in a way that made it seem like she was trying to shoo everyone back to their tasks. Miroku trailed after her, an exasperated expression on his face and his arms crossed along his chest.
"Kagome, what you're doing is not having the outcome you desire."
"Huh?" she asked, freezing mid-wave and looking over her shoulder at him. She glanced around, suddenly realizing that even more people were staring. Her cheeks instantly flushed bright red, a color to even rival what Sango's had been earlier, and she dropped her arms to her sides, locking her fingers together behind her back. "Eek!"
"Hey, can we hurry up a bit back there? I'd really like a meal other than hospital food."
Miroku grinned, pulling his keys out from one of the pockets in his jeans and tossing them to Sango.
She caught them almost clumsily, her usual deft reflexes being quite rusty from lack of use.
"Do you two mind if I stop by the Western Lands before dropping you off?" He looked from one girl to the other, gaze resting finally on Sango as she was the one who would have the say in it in the end. "InuYasha had something to do earlier so he couldn't come, but he wanted to get out of the house."
Sango shrugged one shoulder.
"I guess," Kagome replied, glancing over at Sango to make sure that she truly was ok with it. Kagome, of course, was all for stopping to pick up InuYasha, but she would have easily made the sacrifice if her friend seemed too tired.
"Are you sure it's alright with your mom that I stay for a while?" Sango asked, bending her eyebrows together slightly. "I mean... your house isn't that big and-"
"It's fine, Sango. I pulled the trundle out from under my bed so you'll have a place to sleep without bothering anyone."
She smiled, laughter in her magenta eyes. "Like back in school, huh?"
"When you talked about what young men you found irresistibly attractive?" Miroku asked as they walked towards the parking lot.
Sango glanced over at him, eyes squinted against the bright sunlight that she was still to grow accustomed to. "If you mean Kagome gushing on and on about InuYasha, then yes."
"And did you, dear Sango, ever do any gushing of your own?"
"Of course not!"
He simply raised an eyebrow, causing her cheeks to turn a light pink. "I see."
Kagome laughed at her friend's slight distress and looped a friendly arm around her waist. "We'll stop picking on you for now, Sango."
"Yeah, at least until you get your strength back."
"Hn." Her lips pursed together.
"And, if you need it, my lovely Sango, I could even help you while you recover. You know, just the simple things that might require more concentration than you have to offer. Dressing... Showering..." Miroku let out a sigh as he trailed off.
Sango sucked in a sudden breath, eyes widening as she looked over at Kagome in surprise and then back at Miroku. However, she was unable to find anything to say and kept walking.
"Actually, someone was telling me about a very interesting book that had to do with showers. Shower stalls more specifically. Actually, there was an interesting section in it about closets too..."
"Shut up, Miroku!! I'll tell InuYasha that you're corrupting me and he'll kill you!" Kagome yelped, shivering and beginning to walk faster.
"Perhaps I wasn't speaking to you, Kagome. It's not my fault if you happen to be listening as I talk aloud to myself."
"Kagome, I'm sitting in the back."
The blue eyed girls shoulders slumped and she held a breath of air in her cheeks before letting it out swiftly. "Man, the one time I didn't want shotgun."
"There's more than one seat in the back."
"Oh! Right, I forgot." Kagome smiled widely, not at all fazed by the fact that she had pulled such a "blonde" moment.
Sango just bit her tongue and hoisted herself over the door and into the back seat. She buckled the seat belt across her body and set the fan and her sketchbook on the empty middle seat as Miroku unlocked the doors and he and Kagome slid in.
"Sango, Kagome, anything you want to listen to?" he asked, easily starting the car and buckling himself in.
The other girl leaned forward, seat belt straining against her, and lifted a Cd carrying case off of the front seat and onto her lap. Sango looked over, only half interested in what Kagome was looking through. At the moment, she would have been happy listening to her best friend trying to rap while Miroku and InuYasha sung back up as long as she was around them.
"Miroku! This is mine!" Kagome shrieked, pulling a brown Cd out. "I thought I lost it!"
He glanced over at her and the Cd she held as he backed out. "Hm... I didn't think it was mine."
"Can you put it in?"
"Must I?"
"Yes!"
Shrugging a shoulder, he reached back, plucked the Cd from Kagome's grasp and slipped it into the stereo.
"So, so, so scandalous."
Sango raised an eyebrow, looking quickly over at her best friend.
"What? It was a big summer hit! Don't look at me like that!"
"Yes, Kagome, whatever you say."
"And if I could dance, it would be really fun to dance to!"
Miroku chuckled, shifting his car up a gear as he exited the parking lot. Kagome leaned forward, shaking her hair back over her shoulder.
"Do you know who was a really good dancer? Kagura."
"How would you know that?"
"She was in a really big musical. Forgot what it was called though... Anyway, she had extra tickets so Sesshoumaru, InuYasha and I went."
"She did have a very attractive figure."
Sango stiffened involuntarily, throwing sharp looks between the two while picking up the red and white fan and placing it on her lap. The other two, unaware of her actions, continued on in their conversation.
"She was really pretty. I got this bad vibe from her though. 'Specially towards the end of their relationship."
"How so?"
"Well, I only really ever saw her when Sesshoumaru would actually go to his father's house, which almost never happened. But she was really jumpy, almost as if she was expecting something to attack her."
"Or maybe someone."
"I dunno. It was really weird. Kinda strange, you know?"
Miroku shrugged a shoulder and casually merged left a lane. "What happened to her?"
"I dunno. I saw her one day and then never saw her again."
Tapping her fingers uneasily along the fan, Sango focused her gaze on the passing scenery. She finally spoke, almost with a forced casualness that, fortunately, the others didn't pick up on between the music and the wind. "How is it that you two know so much about her, but I've never met her?"
"How often have you been to the Western Lands or InuYasha's house?"
She hesitated, trying to remember before laughing it off and shaking her head. "Point taken."
Kagome nodded, flipping through the Cds yet again while her hair whipped behind her. "Yeah, don't be surprised. But you didn't miss out on much. She was kinda... well... not nice."
That's putting it mildly, Sango though dryly, glancing over at Kagome and lifting an eyebrow ever so slightly.
"But you would have gotten along with her... Or really hated her."
"Funny how people are often like that," Miroku commented, eyes flicking to the rearview mirror.
Sango tried to laugh it off as Kagome grinned, but found it near impossible. She closed her eyes, leaning her head back, and allowed the violent wind to whip her bangs away from her face.
"Hey, Miroku, my mom wanted me to invite you and InuYasha for dinner. You up for it?" Kagome asked after a short silence.
"It'll be better than having ramen. Again."
Their voices melted into a low drone, hardly distinguishable from the steady beat of the music as Sango drifted off into a state of semi-consciousness and a voice that she almost recognized spoke to her.
You're scared, aren't you? Terrified. Well, who wouldn't be? Face it, you have no idea where this all began. You're just a kid, a lost kid that wants to crawl back to her mother and have her fears sung away. All you know is that you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
What would have happened if you had stayed at Kagome's that night like she had asked you to? What would have happened if you had trained just a little bit harder, could have moved just a little bit faster? You're the only one who knows what really happened. No matter what you tell the feds when they interview you, they'll still have no idea what it was really like to be there. They don't know your fear, desperation, the pain. Nothing.
Your father and Kikyou were supposed to be the last line of defense. So now that they failed, what are you supposed to do? Or, more importantly, what's left for you to do?
"Sango? Hey, Sango, you awake? We're here."
She opened her eyes slowly, looking from Kagome to InuYasha and finally to Miroku. They had gone all the way to the Western Lands and back to Kagome's house without her waking once?
It was almost funny how tired she was. After all, for the last two months, she'd been asleep more or less.
What's left for anyone to do?
She pulled a smile, shaking the voice and dream out of her mind as she unbuckled herself and slid out of the car. "You shoulda woken me. I hate sleeping in cars."
"You were tired," Miroku told her. "Besides, would you rather have fallen asleep halfway through dinner?"
She wrinkled her nose at him, pointedly ignoring his question as she laced her fingers together and stretched her arms up over her head. Her back cracked loudly as she twisted this way and that.
"Sango, don't do that!" Kagome winced, squinting her eyes shut. "It's so gross!"
"Kagome, you made it just in time for dinner!"
The small group looked up at the open living room window and Mrs. Higurashi who stuck her head out and smiled at them all. She waved, beaming an extra big smile at Sango. "It's great to see you again, dear. I called the station for you and you have an interview tomorrow at eleven. Think you can make it?"
Sango nodded, turning her lips up in an automatic smile. "Of course, Mrs. Higurashi."
"Oh, and I also managed to pick up some of your things. Someone at the agency was kind enough to get them for you after the upstairs of your house had been announced as irrelevant to the crime scene."
"Thanks." She smiled briefly, an automatic gesture.
"Hey, Ms. Higurashi, what did you make?" InuYasha asked loudly as they entered through the front door.
"Just a little family recipe. No ramen if that's what you're asking."
His face fell ever so slightly, and his shoulders slumped. Kagome sighed and pushed him towards the dining room.
"Geez, InuYasha, you can have ramen any day of the week."
"I'm actually quite surprised that he can still stand the stuff. It's all he's been eating while at his brother's house and I for one would not be upset if I never saw it again."
"InuYasha's here!! ALRIGHT!" Souta's loud voice could be heard as he ran in from the living room and leaped onto his hero's back.
"Kagome! Get him off me!"
"Souta, Souta dear, I don't think InuYasha apprecia-"
"But mom! I never get to see him!"
The hanyou winced as Kagome's little brother tugged on his hair. "I was over last week!"
"Oh..."
Kagome gave him an apologetic look as she grabbed her brother by the back of his shirt and tried to pull him away. "And if you don't let go, he'll never want to come back!"
He let go instantly, causing Kagome to topple over backwards. Souta, landing on his feet, chuckled nervously and ran to the table, seating himself firmly in a chair and attempting to act like nothing had happened.
Miroku sighed as he took a seat as well, shaking his head.
"What, lecher?"
"Nothing at all, InuYasha."
"Thought so."
Seating herself next to InuYasha in an attempt to keep him distanced from her brother, Kagome looked over in slight surprise when she saw Sango heading up the stairs.
"Hey, Sango, where're you going?"
The magenta-eyed girl tossed a glance over her shoulder at the table and everyone who seemed to be looking at her intently. "I just wanted to change. ...It's summer and I'm wearing sweat pants and, I mean..."
"Oh, yeah, go ahead," Kagome grinned back. "We'll be here."
"Thanks." Taking the stairs two at a time, she headed up to her best friend's room. The trundle was indeed pulled out with fresh sheets and a blanket on it already. Sango wrinkled her nose at the stuffiness of the room and threw one of the windows open. She stuck her upper body out, glancing up and down the street and watching some of the neighborhood kids playing hopscotch a few houses over.
She smiled faintly to herself before glancing around the room for where her clothes might be. A large bag and suitcase, standing up against the wall near the foot of Kagome's bed caught her attention. Opening the suitcase, she discovered the majority of her wardrobe, a considerable feat seeing as she'd never been able to fit everything she needed in only one suitcase when she traveled - although she was a lighter packer than Kagome, fitting everything you could ever need in one bag was a talent only Ayame had.
Setting the fan and her sketchbook down, she pulled out the first things she saw and slipped out of the large t-shirt and baggy pants, gratefully exchanging them for a pair of shorts and t-shirt. Eyeing a brush on the desk beside her, she began running it through the snarls in her hair, closing her eyes as a pain prickled her scalp.
Then, suddenly, for hardly any explicable reason, she froze. Her ears tingled as the hair on the back of her neck rose. The sound of the wind chime the next-door neighbors had hanging on their porch rang amplified in the light breeze.
Setting the brush down, she turned around very slowly, breath coming in deep, steady inhales and exhales.
Standing almost serenely with her back to the open window and the beads in her hair fluttering in the wind stood the very last person Sango ever wanted to see again and it made the blood in her veins pump through her body like ice.
"Well hello, Taijiya."