Monday came all together too soon for Sango's tastes. She had barely got to spend any time with Kuranosuke at all. Of all the unjust things! But those thoughts were before she remembered she might just be seeing an awful lot of him soon, for today was the day when students from Goshinboku Academy would start to arrive. While no one was sure who was going to Shikon High and who was going to Sengoku Jidai Middle School, Sango opted to remain hopeful.

So, thoroughly excited, she hopped on her bicycle, speeding off towards school, for once actually eager for class to start. It would be after first period that they would know who went where, and Sango's class was going to be hosting D-H. Coincidentally, Daimyo Kuranosuke fell under that category.

It was indeed a wonderful moment when she caught sight of his lean figure casually strolling through the door an hour or so later. It was a horrific moment when just seconds later she spotted a particular, lecherous young man following closely in his wake. She swore under her breath. That's right, he was Houshi Miroku!

She had been waving Kuranosuke over to the seat she had saved for this occasion when manager and employee momentarily locked gazes. He presumptuously assumed her gestures had been meant for him and he hurried to her side, bowling over Kuranosuke and making himself comfortable in the seat meant for said man.

He ignored Kuranosuke's disgruntled expression and Sango's sharp glare, merely shooting her a disarming smile. "What a coincidence," taking extra care to flash his pearly white's as he rested his chin in his palm, tilting his head to face her.

"Hello, Houshi-sama," she growled.

Upon hearing Kuranosuke inhale sharply from his seat behind them, Miroku's grin, if possible, widened. He turned around, as if noticing the other man's presence for the first time. "Oh, hello there, Kuranosuke-kun!" he greeted his distant neighbor happily, as if nothing in the world were the matter.

"Hello," Sango's boyfriend gritted his teeth. "You do know that Sango wanted me to sit there, right?"

"She did?" Miroku feigned wide-eyed innocence. "I'm so sorry!" and he promptly turned back to Sango, ignoring Kuranosuke's further protests for now.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Sango fought the urge to rub her temples. "I thought you were in college or something,"

"Nah," Miroku grinned boyishly, though he ruined it with one of his patented winks. "Do I really look that mature?"

"Will you just leave my girlfriend alone, for God's sake, Miroku?" Kuranosuke asked irritably.

"Hmm," he mock pondered. "How about...no? Sango-chan here's one of my faithful employees, aren't you, dear?"

She rolled her eyes, but tolerated his presence, for he had not attempted anything perverted yet. And with Miroku, any time that you could spend around him without perversion was a very good thing. And Sango knew how to take advantage of good things. "Unfortunately, yes,"

"You work for this creep?" Kuranosuke snorted. "I told you you'd be much better off to just keep working for me,"

"...I run a respectable business," Miroku stated, quite seriously, taking Sango more than a bit aback. Before she or Kuranosuke could think up more insults and witty comebacks, however, Yura-sensei strolled rather casually into the room.

"Welcome, students! First off I'd like to take the time to welcome all you visitors to Shikon High School on behalf of our staff," she began, in her overly peppy voice that just absolutely grated on Sango's nerves when she wasn't doing a study lecture. Her after-school encounter with the teacher the Friday didn't help any.

"Good morning," a few disheartened murmurs rose from the sea of students, mostly coming from those who actually attended the school on a regular basis and knew Yura's policies.

Her deceptively sweet tone lashed out at all those who had not returned her greeting. "I don't pretend that I know how you do such things at your own school, but here at Shikon High, and in this classroom particularly, you politely respond to all your instructors greetings and inquiries,"

"Good morning, Yura-sensei," the response was considerably louder than before, accepted only when the short-haired woman set her lips into a thin line and rapped her knuckles three times on the desk.

"Ok, now listen up! I'll be assigning all of my own pupils a Goshinboku Academy student to take around to their classes. From now until the end of the school year, those will be your classes unless a special request is made via the guidance counselors. And until your new found friends learn their way around the school, you will accompany them everywhere they go. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Yura-sensei," her students droned.

"And as for you new lot, don't go wandering off by yourself for the first week or so. I don't want to find any of you in Tardy Sweep,"

"Yes, Yura-sensei," a few disheartened grumbles made their way to the front of the room.

Yura frowned primly, shaking her head. "Pathetic! It'll do for today, though, I suppose. Now sit tight while I find the sheet with your partner assignments on it,"

Sango and Kuranosuke simultaneously passed one another gloomy looks, though they could not help but feel a bit hopeful. After all, stranger things had happened.

Yura smiled in triumph, holding up the paper in question. Rather happily, she read off the very first pair, "Hiraikotsu Sango and Houshi Miroku,"

Sango swallowed the knot that had since formed in her throat. Oh yes, stranger things indeed...

A/N: Eew, this chapter was hard to write after the Miroku/Sango/Kuranosuke confrontation scene, so my apologies if it was a bit dry. I hope things will speed up in the next few chapters. Oh, and if you're wondering how come Miroku was so, well, rude to Kuranosuke, and vice versa now that I think about it, it's this: They have been 'neighbors' for most of their lives and attended the same school for most of their lives; they know each other quite well, and frankly, despise one another. There you go. In any case, I promise I'll get a chapter of better quality up soon.

Reader Responses:

Roganu-chan: Thanks for the review. I can see what you're coming from, but in truth, the only thing that Kikyou asked him for the whole time was to light the incense before he left. He brought that incense and ice cream without her prior knowledge, and he offered to bring her dinner. But really, I do understand what you're saying, and I'll try to fix it in later chapters if the issue should come up again, but really, as you'll find out the circumstances later, with Kikyou out of the running, Kaede has a hard time doing things herself.

Akikaze no Uta: Thank you for the lovely review, my dear. While I've heard of it, I've never actually seen Kare Kano, so I didn't know that this Yukino person had similar circumstances (no pun intended). I suppose I over-dramatized my expectations for angst (again, no pun intended), as it will still be fluffy. I guess what I had been trying to say was that when it gets closer to the time for them to get together, it'll be more than a bit angst-y, due to outside complications (i.e. Kuranosuke). And while they may seem to be complete opposites, we all subconsciously know that both fluff and angst truly go hand-in-hand.

Please Review!