A/N: Oh god. I seem to be just saying things in my author's notes / disclaimers that readers take the wrong way. When I said it wasn't I/K[ag] most assumed I was talking about the coupling in the story, but due to the context of the sentence, I really meant to say the fluff at the end of the last chapter didn't refer to Inu/Kag. Sorry about the misunderstanding [yet again] and YES, this is a INU/KAG fic! *points furiously to her story summary* It says so at the end [of my story summary] !! Plus, please, you think I'd write any other? I'd like you all to know I am a devoted I/Ka writer. (: Forever and ever and ever and ever…and ever.


Thank you to everyone who left a nice, long review! It motivates. Know that. No thanks to those who were getting pushy about where my story was going and what was happening.

This chapter is more of a flashback than an actual chapter of the story. It tells what happened to Miroku and Sango. [Oh god, I'm actually telling you guys, finally! So you Inu/Kag fans, just sit tight for a while longer, and you Mir/San fans, this chapter is totally dedicated to you!]

Disclaimer:

Inuyasha: Why is the government letting this nut write using characters that don't belong to her?

Kagome: Be quiet, Inuyasha. She hears.

Inuyasha: Shouldn't the asylum have pinpointed her location after two years already?

Miroku: She escapes from all.

Inuyasha: Why are you all on her side?

Kagome & Miroku: She sees all, she hears all, she controls all.

Inuyasha: Oh god, she's just a girl!

*Shippo scampers in*

Shippo: Keolla told Inuyasha to wash his mouth out with soap before he regrets it.

Inuyasha: That---!

Shippo: Anyway, the omnipotent authoress has requested I tell you readers she does not own any of us, although she's having fun 'borrowing' us. She also says 'This is Inu/Kag, damnit!' Then she instructs me to say 'Have fun reading!'

Inuyasha: You all are crazy! Crazy as that nut! Crazy, I say!

Behind the Masquerade

Masked Magenta

Sango sat on a chair on her balcony, staring up at the twinkling stars in heaven. Her conscious mind wouldn't allow her to sleep and her thoughts would only seem to loop around that lecherous man who had recently tried a new tactic she had never seen before. She had reacted the same way though, and that was what her mind was screaming at her for. She didn't know whether she regretted her actions or if she was pleased she resisted his wooing efforts.

She hated herself for pulling away, yet she was glad she had at the same time. It seemed half of her was torn towards repentance and the other half was drowning in pride. Did she want him? Or did she reject him?

Sango sighed as she felt the wind play around with her hair. She had promised herself never to submit to a man because she had seen the results, thanks to Kagome and Kikyou. She was their cousin after all, so she knew all about what had occurred between Kagome, Kikyou and that bastard, Naraku.

She never wanted such a thing to happen to her.

And…houshi? No…Miroku? Did she want to set her heart up for a catastrophe and pain? Of all the men she could choose, did she want the one man who could love her and break her at the same time?

'He would be unfaithful to you…just like to all those women before…' a side of her mind whispered urgently, and Sango shook her head. She didn't want to hear it.

Gazing back up into the dark skies, she could see large clouds in the distance. Closing her eyes at the feeling of chilly air slapping her on the face, she thought back. Back to the times where she and he had pretended to be something they weren't…and met.

*_*_*Flashback*_*_*

She picked idly at her food, bored and close to falling asleep. She stifled a yawn behind her hands as she put down her fork. It wasn't any use trying to eat if she didn't like the food, so why force herself?

Lifting a hand to call on the waiter and order something else, she stopped when she heard screaming outside of the lodge she was in. There seemed to be some angry girl outside as Sango saw people crowding around someone outside the window.

Taking up the large boomerang laying on the seat next to her, she swung it onto her back and left some money on the table. She was going to see what was happening out there.

Exiting the lodge, the yelling got louder and Sango could begin to hear some of the sentences being shouted.

"And WHO was that, huh?" an angry girl's voice shrieked through the air.

"Calm down, Koharu. She was nobody!" a panicky male voice said in return.

"Then why were you sticking your tongue down her throat!?"

Sango raised an interested eyebrow as she pushed her way through the crowd the couple had drawn. She finally reached the front without difficulty, due to her strange garb and huge boomerang.

She spotted a girl red in the face towering over a monk with a small ponytail. There were tears in the girl's eyes and the man seemed to be trying to calm down the girl without touching her.

"There was just something in her mouth, dear!"

Sango scoffed at the lame excuse, and nearly winced when she saw the girl slap the man so hard, his head was smacked to the side. A hand flew up to cover the red handprint on his cheek and Sango watched amusedly as the monk-like person stumbled to get his words out. But before that, the angry girl pointed a finger at him as her body shook in ire.

"We're over!" the girl screamed, slapping him again and walking off heatedly.

An elderly couple next to Sango started whispering and the undercover demon exterminator couldn't help but move closer to listen.

"Third time this month," an old man muttered, shaking his head as he watched the crowd slowly disperse.

"You'd think they would really be over this time. I told you it was bad news when we saw the monk walk down our streets a month ago," the old woman whispered nervously, making sure the monk wasn't listening to her. "He chases after any pretty young thing he sees!"

The old man nodded sympathetically and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Ahh…Reminds me of good ol' times when I was but a wee young lad. The girls then were rather nice…"

The old woman grabbed the old man's ears furiously and the elderly guy cringed as his wife pulled him off for the comment he made.

Sango chuckled a bit as he watched the two hobble off, totally in love in their elderly way. She was about to walk away too, since the crowd had moved off, but a voice interrupted her and she stopped.

"Miss…with the gigantic boomerang…" a male voice said, and Sango turned around to stare at the monk who had just made a big scene.

"What?" she asked, as she looked at him.

"Could you please do me a favor?" the man inquired, as he walked closer to her.

Sango blinked. "Sure…what do you need help with?"

Sango turned red when the man grabbed her hands, cupping her slender hands in his coarse ones. The next words however, made her eye start twitching.

"I need help in bed, would you help me with that?"

Sango's eyes widened as she stared at the man in front of her, wondering if he was serious or not. When she saw the dirty twinkle in his eyes though, she calmly grabbed her hands away before swinging it back slowly. Then she slapped him. Hard.

"Even harder than Koharu…" the man muttered, and Sango turned around to stalk back into the lodge, content on going to her room and not conversing with any more perverts on the streets.

"Lecher," she mumbled under her breath, and glared at him one last time before disappearing into the inn.

*_*_*End of Flashback*_*_*

Sango laughed lightly at the memory as she gently tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Even during the first time they met, she had thought of him as a pervert.

And she couldn't be more correct.

She had seen him blow off one woman and then move on to her, almost like a little kid playing with his toys. If the first toy broke, the little kid would move on to the next one he found, forgetting about the previous thing. She knew only an idiot would set themselves up for heartbreak like that.

She took in a deep whiff of the night air, rejoicing in the way it played around with her hair. It seemed to caress her cheek, and Sango found herself silently wishing it was Miroku's hand that was giving the comfort. Almost as if the thought burned her, she stood up, moving to the rails.

Holding the rail, she could feel the cold metal underneath her palm. She ignored it, closing her eyes and listening silently to the waves crashing down at the beach. She knew he had saved her life, once if not more, but that didn't prove anything. She wondered, did she wish it meant anything?

*_*_*Flashback*_*_*

"Sango!"

The said girl took in a sharp breath as she dodged the attack of a gigantic demon, its pincers smashing up the ground where she had been a moment ago. Dust and debris flew into her face and the girl used her boomerang to cover her eyes, squinting to see what was happening.

"Behind you!"

Sango instantly turned around to see what was coming, but only had enough time to notice the sharp pincers slicing the air towards her. She wanted to move out of the way, but she knew she didn't have time. Her eyes widened as she saw a blur of black appear in front of her.

"Houshi!" she yelled, seeing Miroku deflect the attack with his staff. Seeing him kneeling on the ground on one knee, she instantly ran to his side as the humongous demon roared its ugly head in anger.

"Sango," the houshi whispered urgently. "The demon's weak spot on his body is his neck. The flesh there is more vulnerable to an attack. I'll use one of my ofuda to distract it and you know what to do, alright?"

Sango nodded immediately and got up, swinging back her weapon, ready to attack. A curt nod from Miroku was all the indication she got that he was ready. She saw the demon charge towards the houshi as the man took out one of his pieces of paper, muttering something under his breath. Then he threw it right at the demon.

The ofuda got stuck between the demon's eyes and the youkai howled even louder and in rage, thrashing whatever was in front of it. Sango winced when she saw the blunt side of the demon's pincers smash into Miroku, causing him to hurtle into the bushes of the forest they were in.

Sango didn't waste another moment and threw Hiraikotsu, watching the weapon cleanly slice through the soft neck flesh of the demon. It quickly stopped flaying around wildly as its head and body fell backwards in two, blood spewing out all over the forest floor. Catching Hiraikotsu as if it was a simple ball, she swung it onto her back and rushed over to the bushes she had seen Miroku crash into.

Moving the foliages aside, she saw the houshi muttering curses and rolling around in pain near the trunk of a tree, which no doubt, he had collided into. She flinched when she saw his arm bent in an awful position as blood oozed out of wounds on his body.

"Are you okay?" she asked nonetheless, eyeing warily the injuries.

"No," he shot back frankly as he squinted to look up at the demon exterminator. He pointed to his arm matter-of-factly and frowned. "If this is fine, I'd like to know what you think is bad."

Sango looked down at him with a blank expression on her face. "If that arm doesn't heal, then I'd tell you that's bad."

"Don't jinx it," he muttered from his position on the ground, as he tried to push himself up with his one good arm.

Sango sighed and extended an arm to him, indicating that she would help. From the surprised look on his face, her only reply was, "If you died right here and right now, I might feel guilty. Might."

Miroku glowered at her as he accepted the hand. "That's the thanks I get, huh? After I saved your butt, you go and tell me you 'might' feel sorry for me if I died right now?"

Sango smiled lightly. "Don't expect anything more."

"Well, don't expect me to go around saving you anymore then, Sango."

*_*_* End of Flashback*_*_*

Sango chuckled at the memory. He was a liar. He had saved her numerous times after. After all, they worked together to protect the village they had been staying at. If the villagers needed help with killing a demon, it was always Miroku and her who did it---not for free, but they did it together. They even eventually moved along on their separate ways, but met again at the next village. Coincident or not, she had been surprised when she saw him.

He, of course, had been hitting on another girl, receiving a slap in return. She rather hated him for his personality, but at the same time, she found it endearing to an extent---a rather far extent.

Every time they met again, it always began with yelling and shouting about how the other was trying to steal their business, but they ended up working together nevertheless. She always tried to prove she could prevail over him, yet he would never let her, causing her to hate it. She could never understand, did she want to fight demons alongside him, or was it because she wanted to prove to him she was better?

Sango sighed.

And then came more irony.

She met him again at this castle and found out he had never been a monk, but only as a monk in disguise. He was a prince, although not exactly the prince of this kingdom, but a prince nonetheless.

A tiny part of her told her that this was the chance she had always wanted secretly. She had the chance to be with him, now that she knew he was of royal blood and so was she. But she wasn't sure if she wanted to take that chance.

That was why she had told him she was a bodyguard for Kagome, although practically everyone else in the castle knew she was a princess. If he thought of her only of peasant blood, she thought maybe he would simply stop his groping on her. But she was wrong. It didn't seem like the houshi would stop his perverted actions, no matter whether she was a peasant or not.

She sighed again.

She should tell him, sooner or later. She didn't want to lie to him anymore, but she didn't want him to think he actually had a chance with her. Still, she felt like dirt for lying to him, pervert or no pervert. But…was it because she wanted him to think she wasn't a peasant?

Her blood ran cold.

What if the only reason he did do these things to her was because he thought she was a simple peasant, and he was allowed to do anything to a simple peasant? What if the only reason he had tried to seduce her [or at least what her mind told her he had been doing] was not because he had feelings for her [although she wasn't sure he actually ever did] but because he wanted some action from a nobody?

Sango forced down a bitter gulp.

'Stop thinking about it, Sango. You're forcing your mind to think on unwanted territory,' she thought, and twirled around to go back into her room.

She squeezed her eyes shut as she collapsed on the bed, her body naturally finding its way under the covers. She wanted to sleep, she didn't want to think anymore. Thinking was bad and especially when it was late at night. She was confused, her head hurt, her chest hurt for some reason and she was getting frustrated. She needed to sleep.

But even though she eventually fell asleep, her mind still wouldn't relent on thoughts of a certain pony-tailed boy. An unconscious thought still fluttered around in her head as she mumbled, "I don't want you to think of me as a nobody…"

*~*~*

Kagome snuggled deeper into her covers when she felt a cold draft blow around her. She sighed happily as the warm comforts of her covers brought around a sense of heat. She could half consciously hear something blow outside her window and a pitter patter hit numerous times on her balcony.

It felt like it was morning, yet when she squinted her eyes open, her room was cast in strange shades of gray. 'Wait…pitter patter…?' Kagome thought, as she strained her ears to hear the unfamiliar noise. 'It can't be…'

Turning around in her bed, Kagome opened her eyes wide as she saw the doors to her balcony open and lots of hard droplets of rain hit the balcony outside. A wide spread smile quickly made its way onto her face as a twinkle entered her sleepy blue orbs.

She jumped out of bed as if it burned her, and squealed out loud, "It's raining!"

A thump was heard from the room next door, but Kagome ignored it as she ran to the balcony, feeling happier than she had yesterday night. She felt the intense beads of rain hit her cheek from heavenward and she stared up at the thick gray clouds, watching them form and swirl around.

She opened her arms wide, delighting in the way the rain consumed her. She hardly saw rain back there where her parents lived, and she was absolutely enchanted at the amount that was falling right now.

She glimpsed down at the grounds and watched as the trees swayed and the leaves blow away. Moving her gaze to the beach, she saw that the waves were more severe than usual. The sand was blowing rather amusingly too as she watched it roll along like a torrent of ants.

She continued smiling, even when she heard an acidic voice pierce her happy mood.

"Good morning, precious. What are you doing out there in the rain soaking wet, dear?" the bitter voice remarked cruelly, and Kagome's gaze instantly slanted down to her body.

Her face grew red as she looked at herself, seeing her night clothes soaking wet. She leaned her head towards Inuyasha's balcony before seeing a scruffy hanyou glaring at her, looking rather disheveled like he had fallen off his bed. Now she knew what that previous thump from his room had been.

She only shot him a brilliant smile as he retreated somewhat into his room, glaring up at the rain. She was happy and his morning temper could not even faze her right now. She only replied cheerfully to his previous sarcasm.

"Well, good morning to you too, honey."

A/N: Well, there you go, I couldn't resist adding some Kagome/Inuyasha at the end. Sango is a confused little girl, but that's what we all are in reality, and Kagome seems entranced with the rain. Shorter chapter than usual, but at least I got it out rather quickly. Now you know what happened between Sango and Miroku 'a long time ago' and you know they traveled together. And well, since you guys all are such nice reviewers, maybe [keyword: MAYBE] I'll write some Inu/Kag fluff in the next chapter. Hope you liked this chapter. (:

Now just some notes to certain reviewers.. To Ai8, no, there wasn't a mistake in my previous chapters. I never wrote that Inuyasha knew Kagome was the person at the masquerade. He still thinks she only REMINDS him of the girl at the masquerade. Kirara, sorry no Kikyou-bashing. :P Maybe…later. Maybe. Ichimu, now you know their past. (: Skitzo-phrenick, thank you for agreeing that it was good that Sango slapped him. I believe that would happen in reality, if it ever occurred to most people. Sorena, I love the way I made Kikyou too. She's so deliciously evil, but only in front of Kagome. ^_^ Sierra, ahh…you have caught onto the notion I am using to write this story. (: Jedith, oh god, thank you for your long review. It was so much fun to read and really inspiring. ^_^ bluefuzzyelf, Kikyou definitely is a very complex character in this story. You'll see what I mean later on. …, I derno your name…but here's the answers to your questions. 1. all that good stuff means, all that good stuff. ^_^ 2. maybe. 3. maybe. 4. maybe. 5. maybe! Shinigami, don't worry, Inuyasha won't mistake Kikyou for 'masquerade girl'. That, I am sure of. Christykay, yes, it's sad how she puts duty over love. ^_^ But I guess I'm the girl writing this, so I better stop being a hypocrite. =P

Well, that was more than I expected. Too many questions you people are asking! Sorry I couldn't answer them all. Ja ne!