A/N: Ok my fellow readers…..ummmm…..yeah. I am SO SO SO sorry about the lacking of updates. I never even wrote anything for like…..3 months! So I apologize, most of my reviewers probably forgot about this, lol! Well, here's the chapter, but just to let you know, it's 12:22 AM here, and I'm writing this from the idea in my head-not notes. So if its not what you expected, again I apologize…

Anyway, enough of my blabbing, and on with the story!

Living Life

Chapter 3: Proposals and Unknown Presences

When people think of demons and humans, vivid pictures come into their minds, accompanied with their traits. Demons, as most people would think, are strong, mighty, dangerous, and fearless. Humans are the complete opposite, usually lacking in the strength department, having the skill to be as dangerous as a bumble bee, and only having a single ounce of courage. Knowing this, it would be easy to assume that demons also have no worry genes within them.

So then, why was it that Kagome was able to keep it more together than Inuyasha, the almighty dog hanyou, who was fretting over Taro as though he had just sent him off to his death?

Kagome sat and watched Inuyasha fidget in his seat, tapping his claws against the tiles of the table. After dropping off Taro and Shisai, the four had decided to head back to Miroku and Sango's place for a little break. Yes, they were adults with other priorities, but that didn't mean they were going to hop right onto the work. The four were very close, and just because they split off and had families and new lives didn't mean they couldn't reminisce over the "good old days."

However, it didn't seem like a word was going to be spoken from anybody at the rate they were going. Inuyasha, still clicking his talons on the table, was staring off to the right wall of the kitchen, clearly lost in thought. Miroku was sitting next to him, stroking his fingers through his dark colored spikes, and Sango was at the counter, making some tea for everyone. Kagome hoped this tea would calm everyone, especially Inuyasha, but until it was ready, she felt that she would be the one to break the ice.

"Inuyasha! Knock it off this instant! I swear, if I have to listen to your nails on the table for another minute, I'll clip them right off, do you hear me!" Kagome sat there silently as Inuyasha lazily looked up at her. Well, that wasn't exactly what I had been going for as a conversation starter, but that had gotten so annoying…

"Kagome, calm down, and stop overreacting. There really isn't any need for that," Inuyasha said, looking at her as though he were scolding a small child.

If Kagome hadn't been in the presence of her two friends, and just the fact that she didn't want the rest of this day to go bad, she would have yelled at him so loudly, the very cups Sango was pouring the tea in would have cracked. So instead, she settled for cuffing him about the ear a few times before arranging herself back in her seat.

Inuyasha rubbed his ear and looked at her sourly. "What the hell was that for?"

"You're such a hypocrite. I can't even believe you would say something like that to me, when you're sitting right there staring off into space as though the whole world has just turned its back on you."

"Not that it already has."

Kagome looked up again, her face a tad bit softer. When she spoke, it was quieter than before. "Inuyasha, if what you say is true-which it isn't-why do you think people have called on you for help so many times in the past, or why when little children happen to see you on the street they react as though seeing a superhero? Do you think that's the reaction you would get from the people around you if the world had its back turned to you?"

"We've already had this discussion, Kagome, and you and I both know why they do that. They get lazy and have me work my ass off to do their jobs while they-

"That's not true, Inuyasha, and you know it," Kagome said, and Inuyasha looked at her seriously for the first time during this whole conversation at the firmness in her voice. "Sure, there are the stray dogs that happen to take advantage of you, but Inuyasha, they're idiots. Burnouts, the stragglers in the alleys that get you to do their dirty work just because they don't have any confidence in themselves. And for that, you should pity them, because they'll probably be that way for the rest of their lives, and they have no future. They won't ever be able to have what we have today, and I know you're grateful for our family, Inuyasha. So try to understand that the people that hate you or take advantage of you are the people that don't matter. That's harsh, yes, but truthfully, they aren't the ones you need to worry about hating you."

Inuyasha just stared at Kagome, who had now looked down to her folded hands on the table. That was not something that had been improvised, especially with Kagome. It had been thought over and planned out, and Inuyasha realized that Kagome must have always thought about it for just a little bit each day, waiting for the opportunity to let it out.

He reached over and placed his hand on top of her folded ones, and grasped them tightly. She kept her head down, but looked up at him with her eyes. "If my pessimistic side has been bothering you lately, I'm sorry. You're right, about everything you said, so I'll try from now on to follow through with you're words," Inuyasha said, rubbing his thumb along the invisible creases of her hand. Kagome smiled slightly, and Inuyasha could see some sort of shining light in her eyes, as though one of the few gray clouds that hung over this relationship had been evaporated.

The moment was ruined, however, when Sango set down the tray of tea cups right in the middle of the table (causing Inuyasha to quickly pull his hand back) and said formally, "Tea is ready." She then took a seat next to Kagome and picked a cup off the tray, while Inuyasha gave her an annoyed look. "You trying to crush my hand, woman, or is that how you always bring tea to your guests."

Sango brought the cup to her lips and took a tiny sip. "Well, this is my house, and I'm just acting as I would if you two had been talking about the weather. You're hand just happened to be right where I would set the tray down, so its not my fault if you're in a tissy about it. If you thought having your little lovey dovey moment right here in the kitchen was going to go unnoticed, then you should rethink that next time you have another one of those and pick a more private place to do it-unless you're at your house."

"It was spontaneous, and I don't see you acting all calm when Miroku hits on another woman," Inuyasha said, now keeping his hands under the table. It wasn't until Kagome had passed a cup of tea over to him did he remove his hands to rest lightly on the handle of the cup.

"When Miroku gropes strange women frequently, I have every right to be jealous and angry. We're married, and the things he does is like having a mini affair with the female population of Japan. However, when he is genuine and kind with me, I do reciprocate it, no matter where we are. Some people like it private, others like it public. I can swing either way. Don't you remember how he proposed to me, so many years ago?" Sango asked earnestly. Kagome could tell she enjoyed telling this story, because she and Inuyasha have heard it so many times, it could be repeated word for word from memory to Taro as a bedtime story, without the assistance of neither Sango nor Miroku. If Inuyasha had forgotten, he was lying and just being mean.

"Can't say I have," Inuyasha responded coldly, indicating he didn't feel like listening to it for the hundredth time. Kagome sighed. Yep, he's lying and being mean.

Apparently, Sango hadn't gotten the point. With a smile on her face, she said, "Well, I'll tell you again. Ok, so it was the two of us at that park….Mitsuhuru Park, I believe….anyway, there's that big statue there, remember? The big one of some guy on a horse raising a sword in the air? It was some chief or something…..anyway, I was sitting on the bench right in front of it, so that my back was turned to it. Miroku had gone off somewhere, so I was patiently sitting there, waiting for his return. Suddenly, his voice erupts behind me. 'Sango!' he cries, and I turn, a flush rising to my cheeks as tears begin to fill my eyes-

"Could you ever give us the shorter version when you repeat this story? It doesn't have to be told like a novel," Inuyasha interrupted, which earned him a 'shhh!' from Kagome.

"Quiet, Inuyasha. The good part is coming up." Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"So, anyway," Sango emphasized, looking pointedly at Inuyasha, "I turn around, and there's Miroku, sitting on the horse part of the statue. Looking very knightly, he stood up on the horse, and used both hands to reach into his pocket to extravagantly pull out my wedding ring. But he had lost his footing and….went tumbling down the statue, and conked his head on the pedestal. Even though I was freaking out, I couldn't help but smile a little because….that is something so Miroku. But of course, that was until I saw the blood. Then I scared a mother and her child away when I screeched at them to hand over her cell phone. When she obliged, and the ambulance had come, took Miroku away, blah blabbity blah…..we were at the hospital, I by his bedside, when he turned to me and asked me to marry him. Of course I said yes, and all I could do was squeeze his hand, because a hug would have been too painful. It wasn't the most romantic of scenes, with us at a hospital, him incapable of kneeling down, and his face scarred with bruises and scratches, but truthfully, I wouldn't have had it any other way," Sango concluded, pausing for effect. Finally, she looked back up at Inuyasha. "Sooo….that's it!"

"And could you mind explaining to me exactly what the point of that was?"

"The point is, everyone in that park saw the whole ordeal, and about fifty or more so people would have seen him propose to me if everything had gone correctly…but it hadn't, and those who think of my proposal would find it to be slightly embarassing. But like I said, if that had been the only way I would have ever gotten with Miroku, then I'm glad that's the way it played out. So you see, ours was completely public, even the aftermath had hit the papers, so everyone knew about it. It wasn't private, but I was glad that's the way it happened."

"Yeah, well, at least neither me nor Kagome was at a hospital for our proposal," Inuyasha said, looking up to the ceiling. If Kagome hadn't known better, she would have believed he was thanking all the Buddhists in the world for ending Sango's story.

Sango, however, didn't seem to be paying any attention to Inuyasha anymore. She was staring fixedly at Miroku, the only member of the group who hadn't spoken a word since they walked into the house. He was fingering another nail like hair piece, still staring at the table. Sango was about to get his attention, but what came out of his mouth stopped her short. "Something is very odd about that school."

Kagome could have slapped him. After the tea had gotten Inuyasha to become as civil as he could get, it would now completely wear off once he heard this. It was a perfect opportunity for Inuyasha to start agonizing over Taro all over again, and now that he had an accomplice who shared his thoughts, there was no way Inuyasha would drop the subject now.

To her complete surprise, he just turned to Miroku with a blank expression, as though he thought Miroku was a complete loony. That tea really did get to his head, Kagome thought.

"What are you talking about Miroku? I didn't sense anything, and I would be the first one who would pick up any traces of something bad happening," Inuyasha said.

Miroku took one more pause before folding his arms across his chest and looking at the other three people at the table. "I just felt it this year, and only when we were leaving. It wasn't a feeling, more like…..a presence of some sort. There is some existence in that school that is sending me some unnatural vibes, and the amount of it was quite large, so I don't believe it came from a student. It had to be some faculty member, or a person of a high status."

Inuyasha stared at Miroku with the same expression on his face. "Miroku, I'm a demon. Demons sense other demons. This 'presence' that you're talking about must be a figment of your perverted and deranged mind, and my senses are extremely accurate. If something was off, I would have been able to pick it up right away."

"That we know Inuyasha. But this presence had not a trace of demon within it. Trust me, I've exorcised demons before, remember? I know what I'm talking about when I say that it wasn't a demon. It was a mortal, human being, not a drop of magical, or extraneous blood in their veins. Whoever, or whatever, this presence is, it's going to become dangerous, and it should be stopped."

Now he had everyone's attention-even Inuyasha's. Sadly, Kagome could tell he was trying very hard not to let his worry show. Everyone knew Miroku was right-a demon Inuyasha could sense, but any other evil force, in order to be detected, they would have to rely on Miroku to find it. An example would have been ghosts, because the very house that they were sitting had been plagued by a vengeful spirit, and only Miroku had been able to exorcise it, because when Inuyasha had been called upon to help, he could not for the life of him figure out what was wrong with the house. He could not sense the ghost as Miroku had. If what Miroku was saying was true, then there was something very wrong.

"But, Miroku, if it's as bad as you say it is, then shouldn't we do something about it, like go up and report this to the school or something?" Kagome asked.

"That would be the wise decision, but I just noticed it today, and if we jump to conclusions, than we may be putting ourselves into a bigger mess than we already seem to be getting into. The best choice of action is to just wait a few more days, and see what happens. Today, we'll go together to pick up the kids, and when we arrive back home, we'll ask the kids if anything out of the ordinary happened to them."

At this, the table became silent as everyone sifted through their own thoughts. What in the world was Miroku talking about? Even though they were mortal (Inuyasha not entirely) they could sense a bad aura when there was one. Inuyasha and Miroku were no- brainers, but Kagome and Sango were a different story. Sango was a full fledged human, but she had a few senses that she picked up from the priestess Midoriko, a warrior maiden who used to guard an ancient jewel in Ancient Japan, five hundred years ago. This jewel, the Shikon no Tama, had been guarded by her oldest ancestors before being given off to a priestess to be guarded. Kagome was a descendant of that priestess. With the powers of a miko, she would be able to sense and destroy an evil presence almost as easily as Miroku. So the fact that none of them could figure out why only Miroku was able to discern this force was very eery, and creeped out Sango and Kagome a little.

Miroku glanced at the nearby clock on the wall. Upon seeing the time (which was 9:30) he stood up and pushed his chair back in. "Sango, I'm going to go cleanse and meditate for quite some time. Hopefully I can analyze this unknown ambience. I'll be down in about three hours." As he made his way to the exit of the kitchen, he kissed Sango on the top of her head. "The tea was delicious and soothing, Sango. I'm sure it will help me."

"But," Sango started, but Miroku had already walked out of the room. "you never even drank your tea," she muttered, staring at the full cup that still sat in front of Miroku's chair. She sighed and placed her chin in her palm as Kagome put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure he's fine Sango," Inuyasha said, which brought the attention of both Kagome and Sango to him. Inuyasha was probably saying the only genuine thing he had said to her since the day began. And for Inuyasha, this was something that didn't go right up his lane. "He's probably just trying to get rid of his thoughts. Maybe the clutter of it all is finally starting to confuse him a little, but he'll get rid of it. Hell, its probably all those thoughts in the gutter that are crowding up his thinking space and making it impossible for him to think clearly. In about three hours, he'll be his perverted self again." You couldn't have Inuyasha say a comment without throwing in a few snarky lines.

Sango tried to smile, but both Inuyasha and Kagome could tell it was forced. "I know he's okay, but it just gets me nervous when he goes off and says something like this. I mean, like we've all discussed, we should have all been able to sense whatever he's feeling, not just him. It's just, Miroku usually never says anything like that unless there really is something truly wrong."

This comment was answered with silence, because both Kagome and Inuyasha didn't know how to respond. As much as they didn't want to believe it, they knew what Sango was saying was true. If Miroku was acting this way, there was indeed something very wrong. And the scariest part of it is, if three out of the four people can't sense this evil aura, then that only leaves one person to stop it. Together, they could probably defeat it. One person doing it alone, could usually lead to failure. And no one wanted to think about Miroku trying his hardest to defeat whatever it was he was ranting on about, when his wife, and his two best friends could only stand there and watch.

A/N: does happy dance I finished Chapter 3! Yesssss! Whooohoooo! Woot the woot! 'Kay I'm done now. Hope you guys liked this chapter. And yeah, no Taro interaction in this chapter, but don't worry-the little tyke will be in the next chapter for sure! Oh, and by the way, the cause of my 4 month hiatus? If anyone ever got bored and decided to take a glance at my pathetic profile, then you would understand that I like the show Lost. Ok, well, something happened, and now……I became OBSESSED with it! It is SUCH a GREAT SHOW! And you should all try and give it a chance, 'cause it really is a phenomenon. But the main reason is that I fell in love with the character, Sawyer, and I'm now a fan of shipping Kate and Sawyer as a couple. So that's it. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then just ignore this. If you do, that makes me very happy, and let me know if you happen to like Kate and Sawyer as a couple as well. And for those of you who do, I'm going to write a one-shot about them soon, so you'll see that coming up. But anyway…..I'll get right to work on the next chapter, and I promise this time it will be a shorter wait. Alrighty then…I'm off! God I leave such annoying and long A/Ns….