Sango was quite convinced that should the room grow any colder, they would be entering the next ice age. She sat, legs crossed, upon a small bench in the employee lounge. Miroku had greeted her at the door, solemn-faced, and requested that she remain in here until he came back. That had been fifteen minutes ago, and he had yet to return.

She shifted, visibly uncomfortable. The temperature was doing nothing to alleviate her apprehension. In fact, it was making it much, much worse. Biting her lip, it was all Sango could do to keep from issuing a moan of despair.

Several more minutes passed, until at last the door swung open with a leaden bang. A very disgruntled-looking InuYasha wandered in. He shot Sango a curious look, but said nothing. The door fell closed once more, and again, silence descended upon the room.

Every once in awhile, dark brown would meet bright gold. The stare would be held for several seconds before one or the other would avert their gaze. Just as InuYasha was opening his mouth to say something, two other figures entered the room: Sesshoumaru and Kikyou.

InuYasha promptly shut his mouth, turning his head to the side, folding his arms neatly across his chest. A small snort escaped Sesshoumaru, but no other sound was made.

Finally, Miroku made his return. Flanked by none other than Kagome, he strode forward into the room. No one spoke, and he appeared mildly pleased by this. "Now, then," He took the initiative, voice thick with an unidentifiable emotion. "It has come to my attention… That a once fairly tightly-knit group of friends is going through a rough patch, brought on by misunderstandings and mistrust. So… One of those friends decided to get everyone together and set things straight once and for all, because he is thoroughly discontent with everything that has happened. However, I am not going to force anyone into this conversation. So, if any of you aren't ready or willing enough to get your act together and stop acting like children, it would probably be for the best if you left now."

Not one of them moved. Miroku gave a faint smile of approval.

"Now, the way I see it, this is nothing more than a confliction of interests. Each of you are expecting too much from one person, and are then growing angry when you're disappointed with how things turn out. You may say it's not fair— but you know what? Life isn't fair. You're not always going to get what you want, and it's time you learned to deal with that.

"InuYasha. You are the main instigator here, whether you know it or not. In fact, I'd even go so far as to say that this entire debacle is entirely your fault. You are jealous of your brother, and this has caused a gaping rift in your relationship with him. You act as if he stole Kikyou right out from under your nose. But that cannot be so, because she was never yours to begin with. You relentlessly pursue her despite blatant rejection of your advances, even going so far as to cause a scene in a very public place. Furthermore, you lash out at most everyone who tries to get close to Kagome. Take Kouga, for example. You have no claim on her, and yet your actions suggest otherwise. But how can you string Kagome along as if you like her, but continue to lavish your affections upon another woman? Therein lies your problem, InuYasha. Will you continue to chase after a phantom— the ghost of a love that will never be? Or will you finally start living in the real world with the rest of us, accept defeat— and move on with your life?"

InuYasha's face remained stony and impassive. Upon closer inspection, it would appear that he was trembling with rage. For a single, dreadful moment, it seemed as if he would snap to his feet and violently lash out at his accuser. To everyone's relief, however, he kept himself planted firmly in his seat.

Miroku felt a strange wave of satisfaction crash over him. InuYasha was angry, no doubt, but his sullen compliance with Miroku's will, even after receiving such a scolding, indicated an overall acceptance of his part in the scheme of things. If he could convince even the hot-tempered InuYasha to listen to what he had to say, than perhaps there was more hope left than he'd initially thought.

"Kagome," The weary manager shifted on his feet so that he was now facing the girl in question. "Your part in this had been relatively small until… recently. You sat back and took your lumps without complaint, even when it was killing you inside to do so. But you'd had just about enough, hadn't you? You were sick of playing the role of the caring, supportive friend. Seeing the extent of InuYasha's determination to be with Kikyou crushed you. It was, pardon the cliché, the straw that broke the camel's back. And like hell you were going to pass up the chance to force feed him a taste of his own medicine. You used me to get your revenge, never once considering the consequences of your actions. Never taking it into account that I had feelings, too. So what about it, Kagome? Will you continue to be so arrogant as to think you're the only one with problems? Will this selfishness continue until you have driven away all of your friends, and you're left with no one? Or will you, too, open your eyes to the real world, of which you are not the center?"

Something stirred at the edge of his gaze. Turning his head, he was surprised to see that it was Sango. She was merely stretching her legs, he noted, but he might as well move onto her now that she had captured his attention.

"And you, Sango," His smooth tone began again, as he arched an eyebrow in her direction. "One would think that you have no place here. This is, after all, none of your concern, now is it? Nobody made a move on your man," Here his voice cracked, but he quickly composed himself. "And you haven't yet managed to alienate anybody here, to the best of my knowledge. So why have I asked you to come, to hear this all? Surely you must have some idea?"

All eyes were suddenly on her.

"No," She whispered weakly, staring down at her knees.

Miroku's expression softened considerably. "I think you do," He gently disagreed. "I think you were upset for many reasons, Sango. Perhaps you came out when you did, only to misinterpret what you saw? Did it not cross your mind that perhaps lecherous, old Miroku was taking advantage of your dear, sweet friend? Or did you then notice that my attentions were not forced, and grow angry with me for fueling her desire to create an escape for herself? I've no doubt you'd caught hints of Kagome's depression," He informed her shocked face. "Or that you ignored them in favor of your own problems. It would seem that I must once more impress upon you all the simplest of facts— the world does not revolve around you. You have no right to get upset over the way anybody copes if you yourself are too otherwise engaged to help them find another way."

"As for you two," Miroku turned to give the couple a wry sort of smile. "Neither of you have done enough to warrant individual rants, but don't let that get you too happy. I've still got my share to say to the both of you. Sesshoumaru, you may have thought yourself the better in your little bout of sibling rivalry, but please, do think again. Your arrogance over the matter was simply a different form of cowardice. Next time the two of you are at arms over a matter, take the initiative. Don't wait for things to spiral out of control before you confront him. The same goes for you, Kikyou. Sometimes, you are much too kind for your own good. Your desire to spare InuYasha's feelings as best you could made you much too passive. Passiveness can be taken advantage of, as you've learned much too late. At this point in time, whatever you could have said to him would have been a much kinder ending than this."

The dark-haired man heaved a sigh. "I've said all that— and more. I'm sure by now you think me a hypocrite. But before I let you all go and leave you to your own devices, I must say my own piece. For truly, I am every bit as much to blame here as any one of you. I let my own sorrows cloud my judgment. I failed to knock some sense into certain persons before things got out of hand. I've lied to myself, and therefore, to you all. I've been arrogant and self-centered in my own right, and for that, I would like to say sorry. I haven't been a very good friend lately, and I'd really like that to change."

InuYasha was looking at him with what could only be described as muted disbelief. Kagome had moved to sit beside Sango; her head was now resting on the other girl's shoulder in a half-apologetic, half-affectionate manner. Sango herself was biting her lip, in a half-hearted effort not to smile. Sesshoumaru and Kikyou stood a good distance apart, each lost in thought.

Miroku now sported an exhausted— yet decidedly triumphant— expression. Looks like things could go back to normal between them, after all.


A/N: I'm sure this is the type of chapter that you either absolutely love, or you absolutely hate. I hope many more of you would incline to agree with the former than the latter, but I'm sure I managed to displease someone out there. But you know what? I don't really care. This chapter needed to be written in a gritty, confrontational style… And if the end result is making Miroku the biggest windbag— no pun intended— in the history of fan fiction, then so be it. However, I do hope the end result was enough to keep the majority of you interested. In any case, do tell me what you think?

Please Review!