Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or the line "You look so fine". That's from Jet.

Chapter Two: You look so fine

Miroku got a week of detention and a call home. It wasn't like anyone there cared, though. Both parents had died when he was small, and Miroku had been sent to a foster family. His foster mother had died in a car crash in Osaka, and Miroku was left with Mushin, his foster father.

Mushin had turned to alcohol for comfort, and frequently beat Miroku. He would come to school, but no one ever seemed to notice. Except for Sango. The girl knew something was wrong, but didn't know who to tell.

Sango sat alone at lunch, partly because of her shyness, but mostly because she had a reputation of being a teachers pet.

Miroku was eating with about twenty other kids, and noticed Sango. Normally, he would have felt bad, but stuck with his crowd, to up hold his reputation, but Mushin had beat him very hard last night. Miroku had arrived home late from the store, and Mushin had been incredibly drunk. He had begun throwing various dishes at his son. Miroku, being a veteran of many fights and a black belt in jujitsu, had ducked most of them. Backing up, he had tripped on the leg of a chair and had been hit on the head by a plate.

Mushin had come in with both fists and the broken head of a beer bottle. The boy had come to school with a black eye, cuts above his eye and down his cheek, and bruises all over his body. That, and his 'family jewels' had swelled considerably. So much, in fact, that Miroku feared he would become impotent. He wasn't wearing his usual tee and shorts, but baggy pants and a long-sleeved shirt.

He got up and walked over to where she was sitting. Sango didn't even look up. Miroku shifted uncomfortably. "Can I talk to you?"

The meekness in his usually strong voice forced her to look at him. "Sure. Why me?"

"Because I can trust you." He gestured to his regular friends. "I can't trust any of them. Most of them hate me. We hang out because idiots need other idiots to lean on." Miroku's eyes flashed angrily. "That's all we are. Idiots."

"Don't say that, houshi-sama. You're not stupid."

"Just untrustworthy."

"What did you need?"

"I think you're the only one who notices my father beats me."

Sango looked down. "No. Other people notice. They ask me."

"Well, I need you to help me."

"How?"

"I can't go home until he crashes. It's about ten, sometimes eleven. Could I, you know, stay with you?" He saw the look on her face and spoke hurriedly. "It's rude, I know, but every time..." He lowered his voice, and, to Sango's confusion, blushed. "Every time he beats me, he ends up kicking me in the balls."

Sango blushed too, and, even though his hair was in his eyes, she could tell he was crying. He took her hand. "It feels kinda weird to tell a girl this, but, I went to a doctor, just to check that everything was all right. Yeah, I'm only seventeen, I probably shouldn't worry, but when the time comes, I want to be sure I can have kids. It turns out he's made me impotent."

Sango got up and walked to the other side of the table. "Houshi-sama..."

He collapsed against her, practically bawling now. "I want to have kids, Sango, and I can't! I'm terrified of him. You have to let me stay with you."

"But he might start beating you more if you come with me."

"He might for a few days, but I'll be fine. Please, Sango? You're parents have nothing to worry about. I can't make you pregnant, and I'm a straight-edge, so I can't have sex until I'm married."

Sango patted him on the back. The boy was hugging her, crying into her shoulder. "I'll call them."

I wrote this fic on a whim. If I play on the characters greatest fears, it'll add something of a plot. I figured Miroku would hate not being able to have kids, so voila, first conflict. Sango: losing everyone, even Kohaku. Inuyasha: not being up and about. Kagome: I don't know, so I made her depressed. And, TADA. Read and review, please.