Okay, now it starts getting a bit angsty, but not for long. Ever wondered what I had started saying about Sango's past and never finished? Well, here it is! you only see tidbits of Inu and Kag's pasts until the end, and you've seen most of Miroku's, but at least now you're given Sango's complete past right? Oh, and I have to postpone the actual Powerpoint presentation until next chapter because, honestly, I wasn't expecting this bit of angst here, but a writer goes where the heart leads right?^_^
Just to warn everyone, this chapter skips around a bit time wise. It is not a little bit after the last chapter. Here, you only see part of one day, and then you're on to the end of the next. After that it's a few more days until the school presentation. I hope this helps a bit, but fun stuff next chapter.^_^
Oh, and just a small tidbit, if you didn't know, Kirara's owner before Sango was Midriko, you know, the woman who created the Shikon no Tama.^_^ That'll come in handy towards the bottom of this chapter.^_^
Okay, onto the story!
Goku's Daughter- You are the best! That's all I have to say. Thank you! *hugs* And yeah, besides roasting in the sun, graduation was okay.^_^ I got a metal; yay!
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any of the characters in it. If I did I'd be rich, but I'm not... and if I had lots of money I'd probably spend it on anime anyway so pleeaasseee, don't sue me.^_^ lol
Oh, and as always,
_= thoughts *_* = sound/ italicized "_" = speech
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Being the night of the new moon, there was no moon in the sky to outshine the stars, and the unobstructed view of twinkling stars lit up her heart. It was truly the perfect night for star gazing.
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Do the Math
Chapter 9: The Sorrows of a Perfect Day
Ahh lunch, is there any better time of the school day? Here in a large room full of tables, chairs, inedible food, and "hormone-driven" teenagers we find the gang. Miroku and Sango had just entered by way of the left hand doors, talking about what had taken place within their last period science class. Inu Yasha, wearing his usual jeans, white under shirt, and red over shirt, joined them soon afterwards, taking a seat at the far end of the table while Kagome, who had entered from the right, sat with Sango and Miroku. As they all ate their lunch, only two of the four noticed something out of place, and only one was willing to ask about it.
Leaning across the lunch table, Sango raised her hand next to her mouth as if to protect her words, and whispered delicately; "Psstt... Houshi?" Mirroring Sango's actions, Miroku raised an eyebrow inquisitively and whispered back.
"Hai Sango-chan?"
"What's wrong with Inu Yasha?" Miroku stopped and, having no answer, looked back at Sango and shrugged. Both turned, simultaneously, towards the unusually quiet boy sitting at the far end of the table, and turned back to resume their lunches soon afterward. Inu Yasha had been acting weird as of late, spending his time watching Kagome instead of fighting with her, not paying attention to anything instead of pretending not to be; he had even taken to zoning out in gym, his favorite class. Even after all of the bumps, bruises, and near misses, he still couldn't sense the world about him. So much for knocking some sense into him. Even there, right before them, something was amiss; where was his school uniform? Looking at the facts and the situation at hand, a normal person would have said that he had developed a crush on Kagome, but Inu Yasha wasn't a normal person, and frankly, neither were they. Kagome seemed to be the only one in the group completely oblivious to all of this. Of course, she did notice that there hadn't been the same fighting that there had been for weeks before, but she had figured that he wanted a regular, peaceful lunch for once; she herself had been silently begging for one. Happy with the simplicity of it all, Kagome began chatting with Sango who, upon hearing her voice, jumped nervously. Pulling herself back together, Sango struggled to remain as if nothing had happened, and the girls continued with their conversation. Kagome remained oblivious.
Meanwhile, Inu Yasha was practically climbing off of the walls with energy. To everyone else he seemed to be watching, staring, silent, like a lion ready to pounce, but inside he was just about ready to burst. He really had no idea what was happening to him, nor what he could do about it, but he knew that he had to get out of there, and fast. Antsy as ever, he quickly stood and practically bolted to the boys' bathroom, knocking people out of the way as he ran, and not noticing that he had another trailing behind him.
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Miroku had been listening to the girls' conversation with mild interest when he noticed the change in his friend's demeanor. He hadn't been surprised in the least when Inu Yasha has run off, but instead, quickly excused himself and followed suit. It was certainly an interesting change; usually, someone was running from Inu Yasha, not after him. Watching as Inu practically dove into the bathroom, Miroku felt as if it were he hunting a prey of some sort instead of being it, but what possible prey? Could it be Inu Yasha, or perhaps knowledge? In all of his years as Inu Yasha's best friend, he had never seen him act as such. Inu had always worn a shell, a mask if you would, impenetrable to all except Kagome, and inperceptable to all but him. He knew every corner of Inu Yasha's mind, his wants, needs, fears, but this was something new, something unknown and potentially dangerous. To put it bluntly, Miroku wanted to know.
Stopping and quickly tidying himself before the door, Miroku entered to find his friend in an empty bathroom, at lunchtime, leaning over a sink full of water. His face was damp and still dripping in some places as the forelocks of his hair hung down, acting as a curtain and blanketing his face, shadowing his eyes from sight. The clothes Inu Yasha had worn were all but torn off, tangled about him with his over shirt hanging from his waist, and his undershirt pulled off. It was as if a hot summer's day had decided to live within him, taking shelter from the current winds within his body and giving Inu Yasha alone a bad time, broiling him from the inside out. He looked positively frantic, and it intrigued Miroku to no end.
"Inu Yasha..." Miroku watched as Inu's hands tightened around the outside of the crusty sink, chipping off flakes of grime as he gripped them. An almost inaudible snarling could be heard from the boy, and, without warning, he thrust his head towards Miroku, lashing out at him with every word, phrase, and dirty look he knew. No wonder there was no one in the bathroom. Partially spent, Inu went back to huddling over the sink and slumped his shoulders. Sighing and shaking his head gently, Miroku approached the aggravated boy and laid his hand upon Inu Yasha's left shoulder, offering whatever comfort he could give to fend away his grievance, what ever it may have been. "My, my, what's gotten into you? I don't think I've ever seen you so pent up."
As he spoke, Inu began to shudder gently. When he stopped, he began mumbling at such a low tone that even Miroku, in all his experience with it, could not hear. Inu Yasha, once furious and constantly fighting, both himself and others, seemed as little more than a lost puppy at that moment, with his quivering voice and his struggle to stay standing. Throughout the rest of lunch the two did not leave that bathroom, and no one entered. Inu mumbled constantly in that period of time, but the only words that Miroku was ever able to decipher were "smells good".
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The rest of that day had elapsed rather quickly and everyone had gone their separate ways. Sango and Kagome, both satisfied with the "potty emergency" excuse from both guys, had talked on the phone for about an hour before Kagome, in her baby blue kitten print pajamas, went to bed; she had another tutoring session the next day, and really needed to be ready for this one. Though the past week had gotten progressively better, Kagome had a gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach that told her that something bad was going to happen, something *very* bad. After hanging up, Sango had stayed up for about another hour watching TV; she was going out with Kagome the next day, but it wasn't until after her tutoring session, so she didn't need to go to bed early. Miroku had spent his night pondering the lunch fiasco, and Inu Yasha, in turn, ended up asleep as soon as he had gotten home. He hadn't eaten dinner and had actually slept the entire night through, both thought impossible before that day, and both dually noted by Mr. Khioto. The question on everyone's mind, however, was what the next day would bring.
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"You ready Kagome-chan?"
"Just a second Sango!" The day had been kind to Kagome. She had woken up with the sun, or what little of it there was, at her window, and at a decent time no less! Even though waking early, a feat rarely accomplished by Kagome, she wasn't in the least bit tired, and, to make it better, had eaten a delicious breakfast that had been made by her mother as a special treat for her rising grades. Unfortunately, she had woken to find that something else had happened over night, but even though her stomach hurt a little, she felt very little discomfort otherwise. (If you don't know why her stomach hurt, it's a girl thing. Refer to the "smells good" line.^_~) Not only that, but Kagome had survived her tutoring session with her good mood still intact, even though Inu Yasha seemed to be back to normal. (Ha, and they thought she hadn't noticed.^_^) Now, putting up her hair, Kagome was in the best mood she had been in in months, and was eagerly awaiting her day out with Sango. As she put the finishing touched on her outfit, Kagome turned to and fro, checking her clothes in the mirror for any inconsistencies. The day had gotten much too cold for a skirt, so she had had to settle with a pair of blue jeans and a black long-sleeved top. The top was one she had never worn, but fit her beautifully. It was nice and warm, but not thick, and had a flower climbing across it, starting from the bottom right side and going diagonally upwards a couple of inches before stopping. It had a v neckline that cut just above her breasts, creating a slimming image without showing ungodly amounts of cleavage, and was quickly becoming one of her favorite shirts. Scurrying out the door, she met Sango halfway and the two exchanged smiles.
As they entered Sango's car, both girls began to laugh. A day on the town with your best friend was always something to rejoice about, but why did Kagome still have that sinking feeling? In her seat, Sango started the engine and smiled brightly at her best friend before turning to the road. Something had been nagging at her, but what? Kohaku was with Souta, Miroku was with Inu Yasha, the door was locked and everything was turned off at home, so what could it have been? Suddenly, a flash of yellow streaked across the road, bolting in front of the car. Sango slammed on the brakes and the car began to spin. Both girls held into the steering wheel for dear life, trying to avoid crashing with their leverage on the wheel, but without overcompensating and killing them both. Finally, as the car spun one final time, both girls fell back into their seats and stared at the front windshield, neither quite conscious of what had just taken place.
Getting shakily out of the car, both girls checked for damages. They had made it safely across the street and into a turnout on the other side, both thanking Kami that not many people were out driving at that time of the day. Finding that they wouldn't be going anywhere, the girls began to look for whatever had run in front of them, well aware that it was probably long gone. As they walked by the side of the road, Kagome, on instinct, looked over the edge to find a small yellow bundle huddled up in the weeds.
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Well, that hadn't been so bad. Inu Yasha stood and cleared the math supplies from the living room table. Whatever had caused him to have that reaction yesterday was gone, and he was back to normal, a major relief on his part. The only problem was that he was finding himself caring less and less about fighting with Kagome, but still enjoying it nonetheless. He had begun to notice little things and, on that day in particular, it was really starting to bother him. Why should he care so much? As far as he was concerned, it was all thinking's fault. He had always said that thinking caused nothing but trouble. All he needed was one good prank and everything would go back to normal... right? He just needed a big idea, something to start him off. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Inu left the room, only to be stopped in the hall by a knocking on the front door. Pivoting, he stretched, reaching for the door knob and, finding it just out of reach, grumbled a bit and called for whoever was out there to come in. Like he was going to open the door while balancing a stack of books. Ha! Walking down the hall, he reached his room and dumped everything on his bed to be put away later; he had to find out who was at the door, and considering that the knocking had stopped, they were probably in the house already. Returning to the living room, he found Miroku sitting on the couch reading a little pink book.
"Keh, Miroku, I know manly colors aren't you, but couldn't you have done better than that?"
"Hm?" Looking up, Miroku blinked a couple of times. Finally registering that Inu Yasha was there, a rather perverted grin crossed his face that could only widen as Inu became more and more aggitated. "Ah, Inu Yasha, you just had a tutoring session with Kagome, I assume?" Inu Yasha scowled lightly and turned his head.
"Whatever you're thinking bozu, I didn't do it."
"Oh, on the contrary," Miroku said, raising the book to Inu Yasha's eyes level and twisting it temptingly, "I was merely inquiring as to just when Kagome-sama lost her diary." Not a second passed by before Inu Yasha reached out and snatched the book from Miroku's grasp. Flipping through a couple of pages, he looked up and Miroku couldn't help but edge back a little. "I'm not so sure you should be reading her diary." The mischievous grin on Inu Yasha's face only widened as he sat down and narrowed his eyes at Miroku. "What're you planning?"
"Oi, Miroku," Inu Yasha turned towards the door and looked back at his friend from over his shoulder, "you doing anything tonight?" After a moment of eyeing him oddly, Miroku scooted that much closer and replied warily.
"Why?" As Inu Yasha began to explain, a look of complete terror ran across Miroku's face, soon followed by pleading, confusion, perversion, and finally a conspiratorial grin of his own. "Well, when you put it that way..."
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"Thanks Kouga, I really appreciate this."
"It's no problem Kagome; I'm just glad I found you guys out here." Nodding slowly, Kagome pulled her hair from over her left shoulder, and laid her head on Kouga's right.
The small bundle they had found turned out to be nothing more than a little girl. How could a mere child have run across the road that quickly? She must've been on her own for a while to learn to do that, but for how long? Where were her parents? Was she an orphan? As Sango joined Kagome by the side of the road, the little girl looked up at them, blind fear evident on her face.
She must be afraid of most people, Kagome thought as she looked down upon the child. The girl was blond, though through the dirt it was hard to tell. She had red eyes and was wearing what looked like a tattered sheet, or maybe it was an old, short, ragged dress. She was covered in filth and had small lacerations everywhere. It was obvious that no one had cared for this child in a long time, and it was even more evident by her fear of people. As Kagome looked her over once again, she thought that maybe she was willfully abandoned, perhaps because of her eyes. They had to have been a birth defect or the product of some rare disease; what other reason could there have been? People could be so cruel.
After a moment of staring from both sides, the girl cocked her head and turned to Sango. Eyeing her intently, the girl rose, as if on instinct, onto her knees and blinked at her. Raising her arms slowly, she pouted, pleading with the girl in front of her for protection, for comfort, for anything she was willing to give. Sango stepped forward slowly, and tentatively placed her hands under the girl's arms, picking up the quaking child, who immediately nestled against her chest and curled up in her arms. As Sango soothed the frightened girl, she turned to Kagome and shook her head.
"We have to take her somewhere, a doctor's office first, to tend to her wounds. After that... I don't know. She might have a family Kagome. She might have someone..." Kagome was flabbergasted. How could Sango, of all people, want to send her back to someone who might do this to her again? Seeing the look on her friend's face, Sango stiffened slightly, but her eyes held firm. "It's important that she have a family Kagome." A knowing look passed between the two, and nothing more needed to be said.
Thankfully Kouga had found them soon afterward, bringing them to where they were then, Kagome with her head resting on Kouga's shoulder, Kouga driving them to a hospital with his arm around Kagome, and Sango in the back seat, protecting a small child who had maybe never known the feeling of being loved.
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They had been waiting in the doctor's waiting room for some time now. When they had first arrived, they had been seen to almost immediately, and the nurse had tried to take the girl to bathe her. Obviously she hadn't noticed the fear in the little girl's eyes, because she tried to take her away, causing the girl to lash out and bite her. Startled, the nurse jumped back and watched helplessly, if a little peeved, as the girl once again snuggled into Sango's warmth and protection. It wasn't until the head nurse was brought in that the little girl had been taken to be cleansed, the whole time with Sango by her side; she wouldn't have gone otherwise. The two came back about half an hour later, both Sango and the little girl soaking wet. Kagome couldn't help but smile at the picture they made with their clothes and hair hanging limply off of them, causing them both to look like drowned rats. Even Kouga and Sango had to smile at that, even considering the circumstances, that is, until the doctor arrived.
"I'm affraid we're in a tight spot Miss Hiraikotsu. You see, we know who this child is." All eyes immediately turned to the doctor before them. "Her name is Koneko, Kirara; she is the last of her family." A collective gasp rang through the room and Sango wobbled, saved from collapsing only by Kouga's arms. A chair was brought for her and she gratefully sat down, holding her head and practically choking out breaths.
"The... last?"
"I'm affraid so. Her family abandoned her when she was born. A hospital not far from here received her; I assume that you can see why they'd remember her in particular." Kagome nodded slowly. "Her aunt came; I think her name was, " he flipped through a few pages on his clipboard, "oh yes, Koneko, Midriko. She took the child in, but soon came into heart problems and died during surgery. The few relatives that were still alive by that point soon died as well, some of natural causes, some not. The fact of the matter is, unless someone responsible will take her, we'll have to send her to an orphanage."
"NO!" Sango jumped up and held Kirara protectively; "I won't let you send her to an orphanage!" Kagome was at her side in an instant.
"Sango, it's okay, calm down." As Sango stood there, weeping almost pitifully into Kagome's shoulder, both Kouga and the doctor, though slightly confused, dared not approach the three.
How could this have happened? This couldn't be a coincidence, that Sango would've found this girl... could it?
About three years ago, Sango's father was killed. Her mother had died a few years before, and it had almost torn the family apart. They had eventually pulled through, Sango, Kohaku, and her father, led only by her father's wisdom and comfort. Both Sango and Kohaku had grown incredibly attached to him after that point, so much so that to live without him would've been almost impossible, and they found out how hard it was. Sango was off visiting a relative when it had happened. From what she was told, people came to the door posing as police officers. Thinking as much, Kohaku let them in and they took advantage of him, using his life against his father. When the police came they panicked and tried to run, using Kohaku's death as a distraction, but Sango's father got there too late to save himself, and just in time to save his only son. Imagine the horror, just getting used to your mother's death only to return to find your father dead as well. Soon afterward they had moved in with her aunt, the relative who's house Sango had been staying in when it had happened. As soon as she was old enough, Sango took Kohaku and left; that house held memories too troubling for them both. Since then, Sango has been forced to go to school, take care of Kohaku, and hold two jobs, all to keep what little of her family is left together. The Higurashis have helped whenever they could, being that Sango is their daughter's best friend, and she has always appreciated it. She has always been like one of the family.
And now, as her life finally returns to some degree of normal, she finds a homeless little girl who had been put into the same spot she had been in, and she was being forced to let it happen? As long as Sango had breath, that little girl wouldn't leave her sight; when dead set on something, she did *not* change her mind.