Summary- Sango Tacchi has always had a tough life. It's normal for her. When the normal pressure starts to get harder, will she handle herself any differently than before? The next problem is keeping her best friend from realizing her methods of coping... Warning, I used song lyrics!

I own all the poems at the beginning of the chapters. Those are my mind's rotten creations.

Song- Step Closer (Linkin Park)

I forgot what this chapter was supposed to be about. Crap. Let me look... Sorry, everyone. This chapter has a ninety percent chance of being boring. Please put on your boring helmets and read without enthusiasm.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

About to Break
Chapter Three- Just Breathe

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Worried as hell
And trapped in a jail cell
There's only one escape
But you must hide it with a cape
----------------------------------------

They drove in silence, and their minds were on two completely different things. Miroku was thinking of how lucky he was to have a friend like Sango. She was always willing to listen to his problems. Even if she didn't have time to listen, she would make a way to listen while she did something else. He admired that in her. She was a true friend in his eyes.

Sango's mind was on her pain. After counseling a friend, she always felt worse. She always had pain. It was like she was adopting the pain as her own. That was the only reason she despised counseling her friends. She would take their pain into her heart, and it would make her cut herself once again. It seemed that most of her pain was just from her friends telling her everything.

Even though it brought that kind of pain that caused her to cut, Sango wouldn't stop. She had to be there for her friend if they EVER needed her. Breaking up with a slimy girlfriend fit the job description and left the same bitter aftertaste.

This was just a complication of what it meant to be a true friend.

Sango came home and slammed the door closed. She winced at the loud noise, but didn't stop moving. She fell on the couch and screamed into a cushion.

"Are you okay, sister?" She heard Kohaku's meek voice ask. She turned her head to see him standing at the end of the couch. She sat up and patted a spot beside her for him to sit.

"I'm fine, Kohaku. What are you doing home from school this early? The bus doesn't get here for another thirty minutes." Sango said. Kohaku nodded as he sat down on the couch next to his sister.

"Dad picked me up today." He murmured.

"Dad? He's never able to pick you up. Why'd he do it today?" Sango asked.

"Because he's leaving. He said that he has a client who keeps threatening him. He has to talk to the client, and so he'll be out of town for a few days. He wanted that to be his apology." Kohaku said.

"He's supposed to pick you up anyway. You know that it wasn't a real apology, right?" Sango asked. Kohaku looked up at her, a small smirk on his face.

"I know that, sister. But he does it so rarely, I didn't want to be rude and have him never do it again." Kohaku told her.

"When I graduate and I move into my own apartment, you know what will happen?" Kohaku shook his head. "I'm going to pick you up from school every day and then you can hang out with me until dad is done with work." Sango said proudly. Kohaku smiled then placed his head in Sango's lap.

I cannot take this anymore
saying everything I've said before
All these words they make no sense
I found bliss in ignorance

"I'm scared." He said.

"Scared? What about?" Sango questioned.

"Dad's client. He's been threatening to kill dad and anyone that dad knows. He'll kill us because he's so unhappy with dad's service. You remember, that's what happened with mom, isn't it? Dad told me that she died because he didn't do a good enough job for a whacked-out client of his." Kohaku said. Sango nodded her head gravely.

"The man wasn't aiming for mom, you know. The man was aiming for me. He found out about dad having a little girl. You were still in the hospital. You were just born. I was visiting mom, and a man came in saying that there was a problem and that my dad was injured. Mom knew what was happening before I did. She got in front of me just as the demon tried to stick his claws into my back.

"I remember the doctors making a huge fuss about it. They came in and pulled me away from mom. I was covered in mom's blood. They had to drag mom away since her body was too limp to even pick up. The blood made marks on the perfectly white tile. Then I found you crying, and I tried to comfort you. I didn't help, though. You just wanted mom.

"So, I went outside and tried to find dad. He wasn't out there, so I took you home and gave you kitten formula that we bought for Kilala. You're lucky to be alive. I didn't know how to take care of you, and dad didn't either. We just managed to raise you right." Sango said.

"Do you still have nightmares?" Kohaku asked with his eyes half open.

"Nightmares?"

"About the blood. Do you still have them?"

"No." Sango lied. She couldn't tell Kohaku of the dread that filled her when she remembered her mother's blood. Splattered across her favorite sundress. The dress was blue. Since then, Sango hated blue. It reminded her of her mother and her mother's blood. Slippery. Slimy. The blood was everywhere in her dreams.

Less I hear, the less you say
You'll find that out anyway
Just like before

"Kohaku, go do your homework." Sango told him. Kohaku nodded then got up.

"Can I do it in the living room?" He asked.

"If you aren't doing good on it by seven, then you're doing it in your room." Sango said. Kohaku nodded then left to get his books. Sango stood up and began walking to the kitchen.

"What to burn... What to burn...?" She muttered. She pulled out Macaroni and Cheese then smiled. It was almost impossible to screw this up. Sango was a disaster to the kitchen. She'd have more time for her own cooking lessons later, though. She was going to stop going to study hall. Not like she did anything there but sleep, anyway.

"Kohaku, how hungry are you?" Sango asked over the wailing phone. She walked to it, waiting for her brother's answer.

"Hello?"

"Sango! It's Miroku. Hey, we were all wondering if we'd be able to come..."

"Starving! I'll eat the whole box!" Kohaku finally answered.

"Wait, Miroku. Repeat that again. I was paying more attention to Kohaku." Sango said. She walked back to the kitchen and began to get a pot out.

"Inuyasha, Kagome, Kouga, and I were wondering if we could crash in your father's home while he was away." Miroku said. Sango thought about it.

"Why is Kouga coming?"

"Because he wants to be with Kagome, but Kagome wants to go there."

"Ah... Well, you can come, but Kohaku is doing his homework. You'll have to be quiet if he can't get it done." Sango told them. Miroku hung up and she groaned.

"What's wrong, sister?" Kohaku asked. Sango put the box of Macaroni in the cupboard again then picked up the phone.

"My friends are coming over. I don't think we have enough Mac N Cheese for them too. What do you want on your pizza, Kohaku?" Sango asked curiously.

"You serious? We're having pizza!" He asked eagerly. Sango nodded her head as she punched in the number for the pizza place.

"Well, pepperoni!" He cheered. Sango smiled then waited as the phone started ringing.

"Hey, can I get three large pizzas? One vegetarian, one meat lovers, and one pepperoni... 34.25? Thank you, sir." Sango said. She put the phone down on its hook then walked over to where her backpack was. She pulled out her wallet and got out two twenty-dollar bills.

"Kohaku, get your homework done. If they come here and you can't get it done, then I'll make them go home. I don't want you not getting that done." Sango scolded.

"Sister, relax. You're beginning to sound like you're a mom." Kohaku said. Sango smiled then headed up to her room.

Her mother... The blood. She was the cause of her death. Her mother was so beautiful and so gentle. She didn't deserve to die. She had given herself up to save Sango. She didn't know the pain that it would cause her daughter, though. Of course, if Sango had died, then the mother would have been given the same pain.

Just breathe, Sango told herself. Sango picked up the blade and rolled up her sleeve. She picked her scab off, but no blood trickled out. She took a deep breath then sliced the cut open once more. Just as deep as the last time, too. She normally didn't go that deep, but today was a special occasion. If she went deeper, she wouldn't have to cut later on in the evening. She couldn't cut, since her friends would be over. Besides, it's quality over quantity.

Sango headed back out with her black shirt and jeans. She had changed shirts, since her green one was on the verge of showing her blood. She sat down next to Kohaku as the doorbell rang. She groaned then got up again and opened the door. The pizza man was driving away, and Inuyasha was holding the pizza.

"We've come bearing gifts." Miroku joked. Sango opened the door a little wider for them and looked at Inuyasha.

"How did we pay? You didn't beat him up, did you?" She asked. She took the pizzas from Inuyasha and placed them on the counter. She got out plates and turned to look at Inuyasha's sad face.

"We paid... And give me back the pizzas, Sango!" Inuyasha whined.

"No. You'll eat them before we even get our own slices." Sango said. Inuyasha smiled then watched as everyone got some pizza. Everyone except Sango.

"Why aren't you eating?" He asked. Kohaku looked back at the question, too. His sister hardly ever had dinner. She always told him that she and a big lunch. But, Sango was unable to use the lie since Inuyasha was right next to her. He knew that she didn't have anything for lunch.

"I'm just not hungry." Sango lied. In reality, she was starving. She didn't want to eat, though. Kohaku nodded his head then Inuyasha grabbed another plate from the cupboard. Sango watched him and took careful note of his clenched jaw.

"Inuyasha, I'm not hungry." She told him.

"Don't lie to me, Sango. I know that you weren't telling the truth. Kohaku knows it too, but he won't say anything out of his respect for you." Inuyasha hissed. Sango approached him and took the plate before he could put any food on it.

"I don't want to eat." She corrected herself. Inuyasha snatched the plate from her then turned around and opened a pizza box.

"You didn't want to at lunch, either. Sango, I only have one request of you right now. Eat at least one meal a day. I know that there's no way in hell you'll eat breakfast. You didn't eat lunch. Now I'm giving you dinner. Eat it." Inuyasha demanded. He pushed a plate of food into Sango's hands then walked back to where the group was eating and watching a movie.

Everything you say to me
Takes me one step closer to the edge
And I'm about to break
I need a little room to breathe
Cause I'm one step closer to the edge
And I'm about to break

Sango sat at the table, eating silently. Inuyasha had started getting more and more short-tempered around her recently. Sango watched him get up then he walked towards the bathroom.

"Use mine, because that one broke." She told him. Inuyasha nodded then walked into her room. Sango sighed then began to take everyone's dishes and clean them. In the middle of washing the second plate, Inuyasha came next to her. She looked at him as he took the dish from her.

"I'll do it. Go hang out with them. I'm also sorry for getting mad at you earlier." Inuyasha said. Sango smiled then left to see her friends.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Next time on About to Break...
Next morning, no one is coming home. Sango is beginning to worry and aims to seek relief from this stress. What throws her off is how everything is suddenly missing. She acts like nothing is wrong, while she waits for her dad to come home. Then the phone call is made, and Sango is hardly able to stand on her own feet.
Chapter Name: Victimized
Reviews Required: 30

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

I'm really eager to get to the next chapter. That's when the plot will start developing and the fillers (like this chapter) will come to an end. Or they'll just get very rare...

This chapter was better than I expected. Hmmm... Sorry to stop it there.

- Bipolar Tangerine