Love Thy Neighbor - Chapter 1

-DAY 1, SUNDAY-

Just a week. Only 7 days. A mere 168 hours. It was NOTHING in the grand scheme of things! But, when you're cooped up with a playboy in his "domain" it seems like an eternity. As soon as Sango had gotten herself situated in the guest room, with its leopard print bedding and matching rugs and draperies, Miroku had come in to ask if she needed any help, a gleam in his eye. Standing by the bed, Sango thought he may not have meant help with unpacking. She wondered if she'd be able to get any of her school work done if he was going to be traipsing about the apartment with no shirt on.

" Um...I think I can handle it." She wondered why he was still grinning so lecherously. She then looked down and realized she had been pulling out her bras and panties. Sango quickly shoved them back inside of her bag and tossed it into a chair.

" Well, clearly you have things under control here. But if you need any help I'll be more than willing to offer my services." With a wink and a grin, he walked down the hall towards his bedroom. Sango wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know what, exactly, his "services" were, but had a foreboding feeling that she'd find out. She sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. She wondered briefly if she should work on one of her 5 essays, but when she ran her hand through her hair and noticed the oil in it, a shower sounded like a MUCH better idea.Sango gathered her toiletries and a change of clothes. She wandered out into the hall and opened the first door she came to. She let out an audible gasp and turned an impressive shade of red. What she had thought to be the bathroom was actually Miroku's bedroom, and he was standing, with his back to her, wearing nothing more than a tie to hold his hair back. Without thinking, Sango glanced at his backside.She averted her eyes when thoughts of what it might feel like flitted through her mind.

" Like what you see?"

If she'd had a gun she would have shot herself. Sango realized he was standing in front of a mirror, so he had seen when she'd come in, as well as when she'd been checking out his "assets".

" I um, I was just, er....l-looking for the bathroom....." The sight of this man naked had brought Sango's speech capability to practically nothing.

" It's the door at the end of the hallway." Miroku was obviously fighting to keep a laugh inside. He was almost unbearably conceited, and then he had the gall to turn around! Sango left quickly so she wouldn't have to gouge her eyes out in the shower.

Usually Miroku wasn't intentionally mean to women, but he loved to get a rise out of Sango. It seemed like the slightest thing could embarrass her, or tick her off. He was actually quite pleased with his current roommate. What red-blooded, heterosexual male DIDN'T want a beautiful young woman living in his apartment? Miroku suddenly began to imagine what Sango was doing in the shower. HIS shower, where she was naked, and wet, and running soap all over her body. He was very tempted to just go hop right in with her. But he didn't feel like getting slapped physically or with a sexual harassment charge. With a glance at the clock, he pulled on jeans and a plain black t-shirt. After slipping into his shoes, he put on his watch, grabbed his wallet, and headed for the bathroom. Not wanting to scare her by simply barging in, he knocked on the door.

" Sango?" He knocked again. No answer. He cracked the door open, and heard Sango's singing. It was slightly off key, but still pleasant. "Sango?" The singing abruptly stopped. Miroku couldn't stop grinning. He loved the effect he had on her.

" What do you want?" She was glad the shower curtain wasn't see-through. Still, the fact that only a thin sheet of vinyl separated them disturbed her. One quick tug and she'd be giving Miroku a free show.

" I was just going to tell you that I'm going out for a while."

"Oh, um, all right." Sango had the urge to cross her arms over her chest. To her it felt dirty to be standing so close to someone, naked. But Miroku was reveling in this fact. Sango was a complete mystery to him, one he would delight in solving. But, he felt like being a gentleman today, a feeling he rarely felt. He left the bathroom with a cheery farewell, exited the apartment, and drove towards Tokyo.

Sango had never been an overly nosy person, but she was hungry. Pawing through Miroku's cabinets somehow seemed like it was violating his privacy, but hey, a girl's gotta eat! She pulled open the first cabinet door. Instant ramen, a positively ancient can of soup, and a book of matches. Hmm, not very good prospects. She tried the next one. A six pack of cheap (but not bad at room temperature) sake. Had this guy never met a grocery store? Seeing as how most people only bought the necessities, Sango opened the fridge. Jackpot. It was crammed full of assorted raw meats, deli meats, cheeses, vegetables, and sushi out the wazoo. She grabbed a small box of vegetarian sushi, made a mental note to pay Miroku back, and dug in. After about three bites, Sango had a weird burning feeling in the back of her throat. She spat out the half-chewed food and rinsed her mouth out with water. She inspected the rest of the food with her fork and found the source of the problem. On top the sushi looked fine, but inside there were blue spots of mold. Sango checked the expiration date. The date read nearly three months ago! She went back to the fridge and checked everything else. There wasn't a single thing in there that wasn't well over it's expiration date! Now, Sango usually prided herself in having a cast iron stomach, but she had to draw the line somewhere. And as it just so happened, mold sat right on the other side of that line. As she raced to the bathroom, one thought hit her. Please, don't let me stain his carpet!

The traffic had been murder, and right now Miroku wanted nothing more than to fall into bed and sleep for about a week. He fished in his pocket for his house key and upon producing it, he unlocked the door and blinked into the darkness of his living room, Did Sango have a thing against lights? He hit the switch and looked around. No sign of her. Miroku dumped his keys and wallet on the small table by the door, and headed to his kitchen in search of that sake he had bought the other day. He popped open a can and was about to take a sip when he noticed his fridge. Having not opened it in a while, it struck him as odd that it would be open. Obviously Sango had been really hungry to just leave it open like that. How rude! He walked over to close it and turned his nose up at the sight that greeted him. Everything in there must be pretty old. Time for a cleaning. Hopefully Sango hadn't eaten any of this. Miroku sighed, shut the fridge, grabbed his sake and made his way back to his room. Purely out of curiosity (yeah right..), Miroku stuck his head into the guest room. No lights and the bed was empty. It was nearly midnight. Surely Sango wasn't out somewhere this late on a Sunday night. Just as he was about to go into his room, he heard a little moan. Not that these were uncommon in his apartment, but usually they were caused by him, and seeing as how he was in the hall, that left only two possible explanations. A: Sango had brought some guy into his apartment. Miroku didn't particularly like the surge of jealousy that coursed through him at this thought. Or B: Sango was hurt. He went down the hall to the bathroom and opened the door. Sango was leaning against the tub, her hair pulled back from her face, which looked abnormally pale. He glanced at the toilet and wished he hadn't. Obviously she had eaten something from the fridge.

" Am I dying?"

The question shocked Miroku. Could someone die from eating mold? Surely not. After all, it seemed like it was all out of her system now. " How long have you been in here?" He crouched down beside her. The odor of the bathroom was foul, making Miroku's stomach churn. Sango reached over and pulled his arm close, studying his watch.

" Five and a half hours." She looked exhausted. She picked up a washcloth from the side of the tub and wiped her face off.

" Do you need to go to a doctor or something?" Miroku couldn't explain it, but he felt like he needed to help her, to protect her. But that was silly. It wasn't like a mad ax-man was after her. She just had a queasy stomach.

" No... I just need to sleep. Could you help me to bed?" Miroku thought he could help her to bed, in bed, and many other ways, none of them appropriate for the situation.

Miroku felt a wave of desire run through him when he helped her up off the floor. Being very gentle, he lifted her into his arms and carried her out of the bathroom. Hopefully once she got away from the smell, she'd feel much better. Using his foot to open the door, he crossed the room and laid her on the bed. Sango's eyes were closed before her head touched the pillow, and Miroku smiled as he pulled the covers up to her chin. It was strange, even after a nearly 6 hour puking session, this woman still looked incredibly attractive. Resisting the urge to climb in bed beside her, he turned, closed the door, and went to his own bed. As he was falling asleep, he couldn't help but give a small chuckle. Sango had been with him less than 24 hours and already she'd walked in on him naked and had become a close personal friend of his toilet. Miroku had a feeling that the rest of the week could only get better.

AUTHORS NOTE

Ok, not my best writing session ever, but it'll have to do. I was inspired at the start of the chapter, but lost that high after the first hour. So please review, and be BRUTALLY honest. I love honest people. Thanks to skylark624, Serenedy, Nessa03, YoukaiTajaiyaSango, Sango0808, inufan2004, evilsweetness, Dreamer-chan, shelley, FluffyLemonn, BabyXbOoX143, silent hanyou, Aamalie, and Numisma for reviewing! All of you wonderful people deserve a kiss! But, perhaps not from me... Just in case I don't get another chapter up before the Holidays (but I'm planning on getting at LEAST one up), MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

xo-Melly