Disclaimer: InuYasha wears red, Miroku's eyes are blue, I don't own InuYasha, so please don't sue.
The rest of the school day went by in a blur, and the next thing Sango knew, she was on the bus ride home, chatting on her cell phone with Kagome, who had induced Sango during lunch to switch phone numbers and addresses so they could figure out the plans for Saturday.
"So, do you want the rest of the gang's numbers and addresses?" Kagome asked.
"Yeah, let me get some paper…" Sango answered, shifting through her backpack for something to write with and something to write on. After finding a pen and her Hello Kitty address book, she spoke again, "Okay I'm ready."
Kagome gave InuYasha's and Miroku's information to Sango, and the conversation ended just as Sango got off the bus and began walking back to her apartment. Sango hummed a familiar tune to herself as she avoided the shady characters she passed on the way home. When she arrived at the apartment complex, she gazed up at her apartment from where she was standing, her finger resting thoughtfully on her lips.
"Come to think of it… I think I'm running low on rice and soymilk… I guess I'll walk down to the grocery store for a bit before I come home…" Sango commented to herself, and then turned around, making her way to a small convenience store that she'd seen on the walk.
When she arrived at the small store, she took her time, looking around, noting where certain things that she might need in the future were located, since this would most likely be the place she'd be shopping at for her food needs, due to it's proximity to her residence. After about half an hour, she had all of the things together that she decided to purchase: soymilk, rice, some fruit-flavored gum, strawberry pocky, a few cans of cat food for Kirara, and a pre-made bento since she didn't think she'd have time for cooking with her abundance in homework.
Staring off into space, the guy at the register had his headphones on, listening to some rock at a loud volume. When Sango approached him, he didn't notice, but once she set down her items in front of him (a little louder than necessary), he looked up at her through his long, bleached strands of hair that were going seemingly every which way.
After pressing the pause button on his portable CD player, he removed the headphones from his ears and scanned all of Sango's items. Sango ignored his interested smile he gave as he looked at her, telling her the total and "Have a nice day. Please come again."
Oddly as she walked back home for the second time that day, the streets seemed empty and the only sound she heard her was the sound of Sango munching on the strawberry pocky and the rhythmic echo of her footsteps on the sidewalk. She ignored this, and began to make out a to-do list in her mind of what needed to be done once she got home. Soon, she was hopping up the stairs to her apartment.
The schoolgirl hugged herself, feeling a cool breeze, as she inserted her key into the door.
"Oops… Looks like I left it unlocked…" she noted, putting her key back into her backpack, and opening the door. "Uggggh… What's that awful smell? It smells like cigarette smoke…"
Sango's eyes grew to the size of bowls when she looked up and saw something that she never would've expected on her couch- a low-class burglar, holding a cigarette with a very angry look on his face.
"Look," he snarled, and Sango screamed at the sight of a gun he produced from his coat.
He was quick to jump off the couch and clamp a hand over her mouth, Sango nearly gagging on the stench of the cigarette that was stuck between his dirty fingers. He had one hand on her mouth; the other was inching towards her waist, causing a chill of fear to run down Sango's spine.
"What's up wit dis place? You ain't got nothin' to steal!" He growled, then his lips curled into a creepy smirk. "But to make up fo' dat, you'll be a good guhl, won'tcha?"
Sango felt her stomach lurch as his hand landed on her waist and he leaned in closer for a kiss, trying to pull at her skirt.
As if on cue, at hearing Sango's scream, he had rushed up the strairs, then Miroku burst through the door, shocked at what he saw. The man quickly pointed the gun to Sango's skull, gritting his teeth in a nasty grin.
"Ah, is dis yo' lil boyfriend or somethin'?" he whispered in Sango's ear, then turned to Miroku taunting, "Try anything smart, and yo' lil' thang here is dead." He pointed the gun quickly in a jerking motion over to the couch, "You just stay put there, and I'll see to it that you dun take off while she n I go to da other room."
Miroku glared at the man and slowly walked over to the couch, and waited until he heard the door shut in the next room to get up quietly and make his way to outside the bedroom door, assessing the situation.
Sango bit her lip, fighting back tears of frustration.
Miroku began to hear a commotion, and instantly rushed into the room to find that Sango had managed to knock the gun out of the creep's hand. Miroku nodded to Sango and as if they'd already fought many battles together, they worked in unison to take the guy down. Miroku was silently surprised at Sango's strength- he guessed that they were at least on the same level of fighting ability. The man was strong, but he wasn't pulling his moves from experience, he was thriving on his body weight and adrenaline, no match for the two very skilled warriors he found himself against. Sango delivered the final blow, a solid roundhouse kick to his solar plexus, leaving him a bloody, unconscious mess on the floor.
Sango glared at the man on the ground with rage as she wiped the sweat from her forehead.
Miroku answered Sango's look of confusion with, "I know you're wondering how I got here… Kagome called me and gave me your number and address. I… I don't know how to explain it, but for some reason, I felt a sense of urgency to see you. I thought I'd just show up and maybe we'd work on homework or something, but I'm glad I got here when I did…"
"Thanks for coming…" Sango breathed.
"I'm sure you could've taken the jerk down on your own. You've got real talent in the fighting field, anyone ever told you that?" Miroku tossed a compliment her way.
"Thanks… My father had been teaching my little brother and myself before… Well… Anyway…" Sango sniffed at the thought of her family.
Miroku saw that the conversation wasn't steering in the right direction, so he was quick to change the subject. "Hey, sorry about what happened. That godforsaken creep is too disgusting to be considered a human being."
Sango dropped her head and tears began spilling involuntarily from her eyes. Everything was just chewing away at her will. It wasn't just bringing up her family, but also nearly being raped by some creep.
Miroku's carried an expression of concern for the girl before him, and he could no longer hold back the urge to soothe her, so he gently pulled her into a warm embrace, his arms wrapped around her, and her head lying softly on his shoulder, her warm, salty tears wetting his shirt. Sango cried more, but this time, tears of joy for having someone, even if he didn't like her like that, it was still so nice for Sango to know that at least she had someone who cared about her, someone whom she cared for too. With this person she hugged tightly onto, she didn't feel too terribly and utterly alone, and the stress from the day's events seemed to lighten a little on her shoulders.
"Th-thank you…" Sango sniffled, burying her head in his chest, afraid that he might see her face when she cried.
Miroku smiled lovingly and tipped her chin up so he could see her face, giving the reply, "Anytime… if you ever need me, I'll be here for you, okay? You have an ally."
Not wanting to seem weird for hugging her for too long, he gently pulled out of the hug and offered that they work on their homework together after placing a phone call to the cops to pick up their "mess". Sango graciously agreed and left the room to gather her stuff that was still by the door where she'd dropped it earlier and put the things in their proper places. It didn't take too much effort, thankfully when the cops arrived and took the criminal into custody, to explain what had happened then get the cops out of their hair.
"Would you mind sharing a bento and snacks with me? Sorry, I didn't plan on cooking tonight…"
"Sure. Is that codfish? I love codfish!" Miroku gave an enthusiastic answer.
They worked diligently on their homework for the classes that Miroku had slept through, while chatting and eating.
"So, what kind of music do you listen to?" Miroku brought up a random topic that had nothing to do with their History assignment.
"Well, I like listening to all kinds of music, but right now I'm really into The Pillows." Sango grinned.
"Really? I love them!" Miroku returned the smile.
'Gods… She has such a beautiful smile… I wish she'd smile more often. I wish that I could help her smile more often…' Miroku shook his head at the crazy though, thinking that he wasn't able of mending the girl's heart, but he knew that he would try his best to give her his all.
Well, I'm sorry it wasn't longer, and I apologize for not having the chapter up sooner. My life's still insane, and school… Well, school is school, you know? Dull, tedious, and ever so monotonous. I wish I could just stop it all, but I guess I just have to wait for summer. After high school, there's college, and after that, there's a job. It's never-ending! I guess I just don't like school cuz I don't have any friends in my classes. But, at least I have a light of my life. Won't tell who the guy is (he's just a friend), but it's nice to have someone to make you smile. I guess I mirror a lot of my feelings in Sango, and a I make the Miroku in my story be like my dream guy lol. Yup, I'm a loser. Enough about me- how's the story? Does everyone like how the plot and the characters are developing? Any ideas for what I should put in future chapters? Please tell me what you think! I eat reviews, so don't starve me!
PLEASE REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!!!
Special thanks go out to the reviewers Demonslayingmonk and Nessa03!! Thanks for reviewing for all the chapters thus far! I heart you!! lol
