She ought to be handed an award. She, Hiraikotsu Sango, had just blown off almost an entire Saturday, to lounge around and watch anime. Sure, none of her friends seemed to be available, but that shouldn't have prevented her from finding something more constructive to do. Anime, bless its heart, was not the ultimate fun factor.

But now it was too late to be cursing her choice in activities, for it was time to grab her things and head over to her afternoon job at the local ice cream parlor, Shikon Shoppe. Joy. She was thrilled, if you couldn't tell.

After locating the little plastic bag in which she kept her neatly folded uniform and snatching a set of house keys from the pencil jar in the kitchen, she wandered out back so she could wheel her bicycle out front and be on her way. She was the epitome of modern transportation, she thought sarcastically. She so needed a car.

Around a good fifteen minutes later, she had made it on time. She noticed the absence of Kagome's bike, and prayed to God her friend would get back from the park with her brother Souta in time to come to work. Hojo was very nice, but Sango most certainly did not want to face the working world alone after yesterday.

Yesterday. Heh. Yesterday had been a complete and utter disaster on levels she did not even wish to speak of. Some stupid lecher and his crony had come in, and unfortunately, Sango had become their target. Whether she had first gotten pissed at his crude innuendo or constant chattering or that ever-present goofy grin, she did not know. What she did know, however, was that the two boys soon found their asses on the front doorstep. It may have been her first day, but Sango was a low-tolerance kind of girl. Prudish and proud, so to speak.

And so she found herself entering the ice cream parlor alone. Hojo was clearly here, for she had spotted his car in the parking lot. Kagome had pointed it out to her the other day on their way home. Where exactly he was in the parlor, she was not quite sure. She observed that Kagome had been correct when said girl warned her about his unusual disappearances. He just faded from sight sometimes...How had Kagome put it? Ah, yes, like the Cheshire Cat.

Shrugging, she let herself behind the counter and into the employee break room. The first thing she did was change into her outfit. Black pants more on the formal side, a white blouse, a forest green apron sporting the shop's logo and a matching cap with a few promotion pins clipped on.

The next thing she did was get herself a locker to store her regular clothes and purse in. Removing a quarter from her wallet, she dropped it into the slot, pulling down on the release. She deposited her things and pocketed the key to the locker. She would get her quarter upon return.

She arrived back out in the main area in time to see Hojo prepping the ice cream and toppings. Moments later, a breathless Kagome entered the building. "Sorry!" Kagome panted. "Souta insisted on staying later than we should have and I kind of lost track of time,"

Hojo's eyes crinkled merrily. "It's ok, Kagome-chan. I'm just glad you made it. Are you feeling all right? You should get some water when you catch your breath," he motioned to the bottled spring water. "My treat,"

Kagome smiled gratefully, for she did not particularly care for the effectively dubbed 'toilet water' from the drinking fountain. "Thank you, Hojo-kun," she said once she caught her breath, taking one of the bottles he offered, popping the lid, guzzling it quickly. "Oh, hey, Sango-chan! I didn't see you,"

Sango smiled at her friend. "Judging from your timing, I take it that you and Souta enjoyed yourselves?" she had heard her explanation of why she was late, but Kagome had been talking to Hojo, so it would just be better if she inquired first hand.

"Yah," Kagome grinned, stepping behind the counter. "The dork can be pretty fun to hang out with sometimes," she admitted.

Sango laughed. "I know what you mean; Kohaku can be really cool when he wants to be," she called to Kagome, who had headed back to change. She turned to Hojo, and in an attempt to strike a conversation and get to know him better, she asked curiously, "So, do you have any siblings, Hojo-kun?"

"Nope," he shook his head sadly. Though he continued, his expression quite wistful, "But I've always wanted a sister,"

"That's too bad," Sango smiled sadly. She looked up when Kagome came back out. Her nervousness had subsided the moment she had engaged in conversation with her friend, and she was actually raring to go. After all, it's not like that stupid lecher would dare show his face again, especially the very next day after their interesting little incident. "Ready to do some serious scooping?"

Sometime later, after doing a fair amount of business, Sango noticed her bike had fallen over. "There's a rack behind the building," Hojo noted, glancing at her upon hearing her sigh. "Even if you don't have a lock, it's probably better to keep it there,"

Sango nodded, and with both Hojo and Kagome's permission, went to relocate her bicycle. When she came back in, she noticed one of the strange men from the other day. Her temper started to flare, but she realized it was just the one who had apparently only came for strawberry ice cream. "Where's your friend?" she asked sarcastically as she walked by, since Hojo and Kagome were in the freezer, getting a few more gallons of a particular flavor.

Of course, to Sango's immediate dismay, he popped out from behind the counter. "You rang?" he chuckled, sporting that same irritating grin.

"Stalker!" she seethed. "What are you doing here?" it hadn't really registered yet that he was wearing a uniform similar to hers and that he had been behind the counter. It quickly dawned on her though. "Oh...my...God...You work here?!"

"Nah," his response confused but relieved her at the same time. Before she could regain her fury to ask why the hell he had been behind the counter then, he added, almost as an afterthought, "I own the place!"

A/N: Two consecutive chapters written in an hour. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. Of course, you all wouldn't know this, since I'll be posting this the day or so after I posted chapter three.

I rather liked this chapter, as opposed to the last two. It flowed infinitely better, and seemed a lot more 'in-character' to me. Probably because there was more direct character interaction. I noticed in the chapter where Sango was alone or had a majority of the lines, the chapter was poor quality. Strange. Oh, and I know I've mentioned a lot of this stuff before, like what their uniforms look like, but it was a recap.

In any case, I bet you didn't see this coming, or did you, lol? Poor Sango. Will she just out and out have a heart attack right there? Keh, wouldn't you like the know? Review and maybe I'll tell you in the next chapter :D...Updates on this little fic are coming a lot sooner than I expected.

Please Review!