A/N: I AM SOOOO SORRY! I really meant to update sooner, but I've been so busy and in a writer's block, I just totally forgot about this. (sighs) I'll attempt in writing the final chapter, because I had promised a certain someone I would. But be warned, it probably won't be any good.

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Chapter 14: Winning Her Back

For a third time, Miroku's fingers pressed vigorously on the tiny, round dials of the phone. At the sound of Kagome's voice, he shot up from his chair and yelped, "Kagome! Please, let me speak to Sango!"

Kagome, listening without a bit of care to Miroku's plea, clicked the 'Off' button, ending the call. Outraged, the young woman slammed the thing back into its receiver. The phone was silent for the proceeding five seconds, until it began its cacophonous ring again. Exasperated, Kagome brought the phone to her ear and yelled, softly spraying it with saliva, "You jerk! Don't you know when to give up?"

"But…" The voice on the other line paused. He began to nervously twirl the black phone cord around his index finger. "If you would only let me talk to her!"

"That's just it, you idiot! Sango doesn't want to talk to you!" Kagome looked out the window into the backyard, where she could see Sango backed up against a giant tree, her knees pulled tightly to her chest, watching Shippou, Souta and Kohaku play with a bright red Frisbee. Kagome's voice softened, "Look, I don't want you to call here ever again, do you understand that? You have plenty of money now, right?" No response. She continued, this time, bitterness was flavoring her usually sweet voice. "Well, go take that hard earned cash, Miroku, and buy yourself a new girlfriend. Preferably someone perverted like you!" Higurashi was just about to hang up again, when she thought of something. "Miroku?"

Hope was audible in Miroku's tone, as he uttered a little, "Yes?"

"Tell Inuysha not to call here either! He makes me sick!" There was a loud crash, and then the phone was dead.

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Miroku and Inuyasha strolled silently down the streets of Tokyo. Miroku had just decided to drop out of school, and 'change colleges' or at least that is what he told the university. He dragged his feet along, swaying his arms slowly, and stared down at the concrete as he walked.

"Cheer up, Miroku. There will be other girls. Don't go looking so fuckin' depressed." Inuyasha sighed, he too focusing on the cement beneath his feet.

Miroku stopped short, gazing up to stare at him. "So it doesn't bother you?" He asked, distressingly. "It doesn't bother you that your best friend has lost the love of his life, and Kagome…it doesn't matter. I can see that you wouldn't care."

Inuyasha blinked. "What about Kagome?"

Miroku shook his head, unpleasantly. "She doesn't wish to know you anymore, either. You had it coming Inuyasha, playing with the hearts of two girls." His eyes narrowed. "Two-timing, indeed. And Sango called me despicable."

Inuyasha growled lowly, digging his hands into his pockets. "Hey, don't be gettin' all pissed off at me! You're the bastard who didn't burn the book. If you had, god damn it Miroku! We wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Inuyasha! Can you say anything that doesn't involve the use of a foul word?" Miroku snapped, turning red in the face. "And don't you think I regret not burning the book? Kami-sama, you really are quite dull." Miroku started walking again at a quicker pace, wanting to leave Inuyasha right out there on the street.

"Wait just a minute!" Inuyasha called, catching up in seconds. He was part demon, after all.

"Oh!" Miroku yelled to him, making a sharp turn towards the hanyou. "And another thing. Who's idea was it to go on with this whole charade, hum? Whose foolish idea was it, to begin with?" He pushed himself past Inuyasha and continued, "I do believe it was someone who was not quite content with our current supply of ramen!"

"Shut up! You agreed to it!" Inuyasha roared back. "You're to blame, too!" He shot up from behind Miroku and grabbed him by the shoulders. "You never had to listen to me! …Oh…no-no, Miroku! Don't…don't you cry! What are you, a girl?"

Miroku latched onto his friend and began to weep, biting his lip hard to make the tears stop. Inuyasha was right, he was a man! Men didn't cry, at least, not in public. But what did he care? "Sango!"

Passer-bys looked toward them and began to talk in faint whispers. Inuyasha gave a sheepish grin and started patting Miroku gently on the back. "He…he got into a fight with his bitch. She ran away a couple of days ago."

"Sure she did, pal," said some random man, handing his son a hot dog and then laughing loudly as he left.

"…his dog! His dog ran away! He really loves his dog!" Inuyasha shouted.

"I can see that!" And into the mass of bodies did the man and his child disappear.

"Miroku! Stop it! Stop it! People are staring!" He dragged Miroku by his shirt collar, listening to him murmur the word 'Sango', repeatively. They stopped in front of a electronics store, looking at all the flashing TVs set up on display.

"Pull yourself together!" Inuyasha said, searching deep into his pants pocket for a tissue. "Blow your nose!"

"I don't need to blow my nose!" Miroku whined, continuing to moan 'Sango'.

"God, do you look ridiculous!" He covered Miroku's nose with the tissue and waited for him to blow. "Now blow!" A disgusted look sketched itself upon Inuyasha's face. "The things I do for you, Miroku," unable to keep himself from staring at Miroku's…er…mucus.

"Oh where, oh where did my Sango go? Oh where, oh where could she be?"

"You've lost it!" Inuyasha cried, flinging the tissue into a near by garbage can. "Hey…isn't that…?" Inuyasha spoke, eyes now fixed on one of the many televisions.

Miroku sniffled. "What?" He straightened himself up and stared at the TV. "It's Sesshomaru! Inuyasha, what's he doing?"

"It looks like he's going to speak about something." Inuyasha observed.

"What's that he's got in his hand?" Miroku pointed to the screen. "Why it…it looks like…" Miroku froze. "INUYASHA!"

Inuyasha winced, "What are you yelling about?"

Miroku's violet eyes were as big as tennis balls. "He's…he's got the book! He's got Forever an Illusion!" He studied the studio that Sesshomaru was sitting in, and seethed with anger. He noticed the imp, the one from the book store. The only way that Jaken fellow could have possibly gotten that book, was if he had personally broken into the apartment himself! He explained these thoughts to Inuyasha, who nodded in agreement himself. Ayame had been avoiding them months before Miroku and Sango had broken up. She didn't even come to collect the rent. Ayame must've let Sesshomaru into their apartment, and Sesshomaru then must've stolen the book! Next, he probably went to the nearest publisher…and well, there he was, sitting in a room ready to talk about Miroku's work.

"Come on!" Miroku grabbed Inuyasha's hand, "We have a few stops to make."

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"Sango! It's on! We never miss an episode!" Kera squealed, running to sit on the couch and turning to channel 7. "Dear brother, I am so proud of you!"

"What's Kakarou got on his talk show this time?" Sango asked, bringing in some popcorn and setting it on the coffee table to cool.

"Eh, some guy and a book. Pretty boring if you ask me, but ya know, it's my brother's show so I gotta watch it." Ignoring the steam rising from it, Kera took a handful of popcorn and put it in her mouth. This resulted in her rushing to the refrigerator for some Mountain Dew.

Sango laughed softy. "Hey, look! It's Sesshomaru Taisho, Inuyasha's broth-" She decided it was best not to finish her sentence.

"Sesshomaru, that's funny. The name on your book says that you're Miroku." Kakarou shifted around in his seat. "Can you explain to the audience why you felt the need to use a penname?"

Sesshomaru glared. "I do not need to explain myself to the likes of you. I just felt the need to, is that understood?"

"Uhhh…yeah. But tell us, how does a successful actor like yourself, come up with the idea for a book like this?" Kakarou skimmed the contents of it, blushing deeply, before clearing his throat to continue. "You never really striked me as that kind of…mature writer."

Jaken waved a finger in the air, causing the camera to zoom in on his green, little body. "Lord Sesshomaru happens to be very talented and-"

"Jaken, may I speak to you for a moment?" Sesshomaru asked.

"Of course, mi lord." And he hopped up on to the couch to listen to Sesshomaru.

"You fool Jaken, I know nothing about this book, why am I here?"

"You mean you never even read it, Lord Sesshomaru?" Of course, this little intercourse between the demon and his imp was nothing more than a slur of words to the audience at home, but to those in the studio, they began to get riled up.

"Excuse me, sir. But did you just say that you never read your own book? How is that even possible if you wrote it?" A young cat demon stood up from the crowd, somewhat hissing at the youkai.

"THAT'S RIGHT! HE DIDN'T!" the doors burst open, and Miroku and Inuyasha thundered in, exhausted from running back and fourth all over the city.

"It's the pervert that broke my Sango's heart!" said Kera, choking on her drink.

"Why, it's Miroku Priest!"

"You're not allowed in the studio! Come back here!" Security began chasing after them. The crowd started to scratch their heads with confusion.

"Please, Kakarou! If we could just have a moment!"

He nodded, telling Security to back off. "Come sit up here Mr. Priest, Mr. Taisho. I gotta say, you two remind me a lot of some guys my sister described."

"We are the guys your sister described. Miroku is the one who wrote that book." Inuyasha spat.

"Impossible! I wrote that book myself!"

Miroku marched over to Sesshomaru, glaring at him in the face. "Is that so? Kakarou, I give you, exhibit A- my notes and scratch outs for the novel. And this- this is a Christmas card we received from Sesshomaru last year. The hand writing doesn't match at all, does it?"

Kakarou took it. "No, I don't see how it does. Mr. Jaken, are you wearing a dress in this picture?" Kakarou chuckled.

"I WAS BEING AN ELF!" Jaken wailed, "Mi lord, I thought you burned that!"

Miroku ignored the comments of others and carried on. "Also, Mr. Sheden, I can tell you exactly how the story goes, how it came to be, and how I now despise it like I do."

So Miroku told his story, down to the very last detail.

"I could sue you for stealing my book, and for ruining my life, Sesshomaru. I never liked you as an actor, and I certainly never liked you as a person. I could blame you for publishing my book, but I'm not. I could blame Inuyasha for giving me the idea, but I'm not. It's because of my own selfish desires that I have gotten myself into this mess. I never should've agreed to Inuyasha's devilish plan, but I could not resist the temptation of going to a school full of beautiful girls. When I did meet one, to base my story off of, I never expected myself to fall so madly in love with her. I should've stopped writing the thing, but I didn't. I never stopped to consider her feelings, and when I finally realized what an inconsiderate fool I'd been, the novel was complete. I never wanted to hurt her so badly, so I didn't publish the book, but I should've burned it! Not burning it was the biggest mistake of my life. It is the thing I most regret, because now I find that…without Sango-"

"First of all, he's a mess. Crying in public, me having to blow his nose-"

"Yes, thank you, Inuyasha." Said Miroku, annoyed beyond belief that he had been interrupted. "But, without Sango, I feel myself slowly dying. I don't think I can live without her, Kakarou. I'd give up everything I have, just to have her back. My friends…I'm nothing without Sango." He surveyed the room, before exhaling a deep sigh. "…Thank you." Miroku stepped down off the stage and slowly exited, not caring what anybody thought of him at this point. What needed to be done was done. He had let the world know that he did have a soul, and that he was heart-wretchedly miserable. Now, Miroku could try to move on.

Alas, his speech did have an affect on people. They had tears in their eyes. Sesshomaru and Jaken eventually got booed out of the studio.

"Sango?" Kagome sobbed, checking to see if she was all right.

Sango's face was stained with tears. She tried to wipe the new ones from her eyes, but failed in doing so. Kagome and Kera ran to embrace her, as Sango laid her head on Kagome's lap and wept.

"Oh, Sango…" Kagome and Kera spoke softly, running their fingers through her hair.

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"Back to this again…" Miroku moaned and took out the piece of paper that he had stuffed into his desk draw so long ago.

The rain pounded on the roof. Silence was no longer an option. He escorted her carefully into a dark room, where the only light there was, was from the radiant glow of the moon. It showed through a small window, big and bright. She looked at it, and then to him. Love filled her eyes.

"Do you think there really is a moon goddess?" She spoke softly, as the rain droplets continued to fall down her perfectly curved body.

"The truth?" The man smiled, wrapping his strong, protective arms around her petite waist, resting his chin in her hair. "I'm not quite sure, but I believe there's an earth goddess, and that goddess is you, Sango…"

"Corny shit if you ask me." Inuyasha said, slurping a long ramen noodle into his mouth.

"I assumed it would be." Miroku sighed again, folding his arms behind his head and staring at the ceiling. "I wonder where she is now."

Just then came a tap on the door.

"I'll get it. It's probably Ayame coming to apologize some more," Miroku groaned. But as he opened the door, his breath caught in his throat. There, dressed in that ravishing pink kimono, Sango stood before him with a magenta-colored blush covering her usually fair cheeks.

"….." She held her hand to her chin and looked down at the floor like a small child would when confronting her crush.

"San…go…" Miroku gaped as he dropped his pen to the floor, hearing it clearly as it hit the ground.

"I…I…I saw you on that show yesterday afternoon, and I...I…"

Before Miroku could say anything, Sango was in his arms, crying happily. "Oh, Miroku! I missed you so much! Please tell me all of that was true, and I'd…Miroku, I'd forgive you! I'd forgive everything!"

"Shhh…calm down, my dear." Miroku cupped her right cheek affectionately, "I love you, Sango and I meant every word."

Sango quickly stood up on her tip-toes and crushed her kips into Miroku's, completely sending him off guard and causing him to fall backwards onto the rug. She partly her lips slightly, allowing Miroku to indulge within the insides of her mouth. This is when Inuyasha thought it'd be best for him to leave. On the way out, he bumped right into Kagome, who was coming up the stairwell.

"Uh, hi." Inuyasha whispered.

"Hi, dog boy." Kagome said, secretly wishing Inuyasha had missed her liked she missed him; right now she didn't want to think about Kikyo. Live in the moment, that was her motto.

"You…you wanna get some dinner?" Inuyasha asked shyly.

Kagome rubbed one furry white dog ear and smiled, "I'd like that, Inuyasha…"

The End

Did you like it? Hate it? Oh please be nice. I could write and epilogue if you want me to. Just review and tell me what you'd like.

"Love can sometimes be magic. But magic can sometimes...just be an illusion."
-Javan

…but not always.