A/N: Okay, I didn't get many comments on it, so I've decided for you: Operation Sequel is a go. I got a great idea the other day when I was looking for a Mir/San angst fic with a certain plotline—one I had thought would be common. (No giving it away yet!) And anyway, I couldn't find one. I searched for an hour cuz I was sick and had nothing better to do, so anyway, I decided to write one as a sequel to this. Trust me, it's a GREAT idea, and I'm surprised no one has thought it up before. Or I haven't found one anyway. So I'll be doing a Mir/San fic that takes place after the events in Demotion. I realize Miroku and Sango haven't played a big role yet in this story, but they'll be coming back in, I swear. So probably what I'll be doing is making a Mir/San sequel and a Kag/Inu sequel to Demotion…I might have to put it off until I'm done with my GW fanfic, Boulevard of Broken Dreams.

Ooh, I went to an anime convention (can't say where; don't want anyone to know where I live), and I got the CUTEST little pins! They're like these little 1-inch-tall chibi action figures that you can wear as pins. I got an Inuyasha and a Kagome. Inuyasha is scowling and has his hand on the Tetsusaiga, and Kagome is smiling, holding a book in one arm, and skipping. They're so cute; everyone tried to steal them from me. There were also Miroku, Sango, and Shippo pins…I didn't see Sesshomaru or Kikyo. I don't know if I would have bought Kikyo, but I would buy Sesshomaru without a doubt. I'm going to make them into earrings, and I'll order the Miroku, Sango, and Shippo ones. I have my ears double-pierced and my cartilage is pierced on one ear, so I plan to wear the whole Inuyasha gang on my ears. When I told my friend who went with me to the convention, she shook her head and called me a nerd…grr…I swear to God I'm not a nerd! Nerds don't have lives and spend all their time watching anime, watching sci-fi movies, reading fantasy books, buying Star Wars and anime merchendise, and reading/writing fanfiction on the Interet! I, on the other hand, spare time to eat and sleep. -

BTW, Silver Moon, you nearly overloaded my e-mail box with reviews the other day. LOL. You must've been really bored. But I'm honored. I enjoyed the reviews a lot.

Chapter Fourteen: Broken Hearts

Kagome woke up to find her fingers were interlaced with Inuyasha's. Sunlight shone on his face through a gap in the door, and she saw his hair was still black. Shippo was resting between them under the shared covers.

She felt her eyes burn. Was this what she had always wanted? A husband who she loved and a child she adored? But Inuyasha hadn't made any proposals of marriage. They'd only confessed their feelings for one another. The kiss they had shared the previous night wasn't very romantic. Against her will, Kagome sensed herself wanting to wake him with another kiss, try to make it deeper…

No. Things had gotten out of hand so fast, and it would be a while before they got sorted out. Plus, Shippo would probably keep interrupting any tender moments between them, however unintentionally.

Inuyasha stirred beside her. His blue-violet eyes opened, and he was awake. "G'morning," he said groggily.

"It's three in the afternoon," Kagome corrected him, pointing to her watch.

"Three…wait. Aren't you supposed to be at your school?" he said, straightening up. Shippo's eyelids fluttered beside him, but the kitsune didn't wake up.

"Yesterday was Friday, so today's Saturday. And we don't have schools on Saturday or Sunday," Kagome explained.

"So you can stay for the weekend—if you want, right?" Inuyasha asked.

"Yes." She hesitated. "Listen…I only have a week of school left before summer vacation."

"And you don't have school in summer vacation."

"Right. I could try to spend most of the summer here…you know, find the Shikon shards." She sat up as well, and Shippo groaned in protest, but still didn't awaken. "I'll need to go home and re-supply every so often, but we can get Tetsusaiga back."

"And kill Kikyo," Inuyasha added. Her surprise must have shown on her face, because his next words were a little defensive. "What? You don't agree with me that she's too dangerous left alive? And besides that, you were right about her. She's dead. Dead people should stay dead."

"What about your kiss?" she said, almost accusingly.

"You must have figured it out last night…but I was lonely. I was pretending she was you. I realize it doesn't seem like a very good excuse, but…"

"She and I look alike. We smell alike."

"Just as long as you don't act alike, I'm fine with that," he said, only half-joking.

Kagome slipped out from under the covers and stood up. "I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?" An edge of alarm crept into his voice. He made no move to hold her back, but the fear in his eyes made it obvious that he was afraid she wouldn't return to him.

"I'm getting supplies from home," Kagome replied. "We're going to need them if we want to find Sango and Miroku."

"Find them?" Inuyasha repeated. "How can we find them if we don't know where to start looking?"

"I don't know, Inuyasha," Kagome sighed. "Maybe we should start looking for them in the most obvious places…Sango would be going back to her old village occasionally, right? She'll want to make reparations to the Hiraikotsu and maybe pray more for the souls of her family and friends."

"Miroku would likely be more difficult to find," Inuyasha muttered. "He's probably back to trying to seduce women and talk villagers out of their money and food."

"Wouldn't surprise me."

At that exact moment, Miroku was doing precisely what Kagome and Inuyasha had suspected. He gave the same old disarming smile to every woman who passed, impressing the villagers with his agreement to ward of the "demons." But deep down, Miroku's heart was not in it.

For some reason even he didn't understand, he didn't ask any woman to bear his child.

Miroku was given free food and shelter by the villagers, but he was not happy. Nothing seemed to make him happy ever since Kagome left. When Kagome left, there was no chance of defeating Naraku…and while he would have happily stayed with Sango and Inuyasha, as much of a jerk as Inuyasha was, Sango didn't want to stay without Kagome.

And Miroku hadn't wanted to stay without Sango.

So here he was, in a reasonably comfortable hut on a futon, staring up at the ceiling and wishing he were out in the forests with Inuyasha, Kagome, and Sango, staring at the stars in the sky overhead.

Miroku rolled over on his side and closed his eyes, but he was not tired. Just lonely. He hadn't realized how lonely his life had been before he met up with the others. And now that he knew…

Ignorance is bliss, Miroku thought. He had been content thinking he wasn't lonely his whole life. But when he experienced the truth of friendship, and it was taken away from him, he found himself feeling every bit as miserable as he had expected he wouldn't be. He missed Inuyasha, Kagome, Kaede, even Shippo…but most of all, he missed Sango.

It was a waste of time anyway, he decided as he rolled onto his other side. After all, I always knew it was too good to be true, that it would never last… Sango's image appeared in his mind, a wide smile on her beautiful face. He closed his eyes against, but it only seemed to deepen the pain. …that it would never work out.

He prayed for a deep, peaceful sleep with dreams of Sango.

In her old village, the only noise was Sango's sobs. Kilala was sitting on her lap, apparently trying to comfort her, but Sango didn't acknowledge the cat-demon's presence. "I shouldn't have left," she wept. "I knew I would miss him! I knew I would miss him this way!"

Her cries were not answered by another voice. Kilala gave a soft mew. Sniffing, Sango finally picked her up and stroked her fur. "He's probably already forgotten my name," she said bitterly. "Right now he's probably laying with another girl who agreed to bear his child. He doesn't even care about what happens to me."

Kilala rubbed her face against Sango's cheek. Sango forced a laugh. "Thanks, Kilala," she whisepred. "I always knew Miroku and I were wrong for each other. I couldn't even trust him to leave the house without asking another woman to have his children."

Hugging Kilala to her chest, Sango laid back on her futon, and silently prayed never to think of Miroku again.

Okay, I think that's it for this chapter. Sorry if it was too short. IF YOU DO NOT REVIEW, I WILL GIVE YOU A PUNISMENT FAR WORSE THAN DEATH WHICH MAY OR MAY NOT INVOLVE THROWING SNOWBALLS WITH SMALL BOMBS IMPLANTED IN THEM!