Hey! I actually got it out earlier than I had said I would! woOt! I wasn't really sure what I was going to do with this chapter when I first started writing it, but I think it came out nicely. Here's some hints: Sesshy, Kikyo 1/2 busted and Miroku/Sango fluff! Please enjoy this chapter of 'Anything but Paradise'! REVIEW PLEASE!

Shoutin' out to

Hearii-SamaI actually didn't think about ending the chapter with fluff, but I think I needed to get the relationships moving forward!

Phoenix ArchangelHaha! The dream sequence I thought about doing for a while. I felt kinda bad that he didn't get his steak, so maybe I'll give it to him near the end of the story! .

Chapter 4: Bad News

"PERVERT!"

Kagome opened her eyes wearily to the sound of Sango slapping Miroku. Kagome yawned and noticed that her upper body was lying on top of InuYasha. His arms were still around her; apparently the noise hadn't fazed him yet. She concluded that he must've fallen over sometime during the night before.

"You stupid, stupid, stupid pervert!" Sango was screaming from outside the shelter. Kagome heard Miroku's pleas for forgiveness. Half of her wanted to go check things out between the two, but the other half wanted to stay with InuYasha and sleep.

Another 'twap' echoed the air. Kagome noticed InuYasha beginning to stir, as he moaned back into consciousness.

"What's going on?" he said in a lazy yawn. He sat up, Kagome still close and in his arms. She yawned again.

"Sango's just beating the shit out of Miroku again," she said. He used his available arm to rub the sleepiness away from his eyes. He looked down at Kagome, who had a very bad case of bed head. Small beams of morning sunlight were coming through the airplane windows, and hit Kagome just right. She seemed so peaceful, and looked so much like…

Sango came storming into the plane, fuming. Miroku followed her with several red marks imprinted on his face.

"What happened, Sango?" Kagome asked.

"This idiot decided it would be a lovely wake-up call to grope me! Again!" she screamed. InuYasha massaged his ears.

"I'm sorry Sango! Please forgive me!" Miroku said pleadingly, looking for forgiveness from the angered woman. "Somebody help me out here!"

The others just gave him indifferent looks.

"You had it coming," InuYasha bluntly stated.

"Should've thought about this before you laid hands on her," Kagome added.

Sango turned to Miroku, hand extended to her apparent supporters.

"See! I told you! You perverted moron!" she said, storming out of the plane once more. Miroku went to follow her, when Kagome spoke up.

"Just give her space. I know Sango: she'll cool off," she said softly. Miroku said nothing, and sat down, leaning against the same wall which he and Sango leaned against the night before.

"Kagome, may I ask you something?" Miroku asked quietly. He had a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Uh, sure," she responded. Miroku kept the thoughtful expression.

"Can a woman's trust and friendship be lost forever by stroking her butt?" he asked.

Kagome should have seen it coming.

"Well, first of all, most women don't like having guys just randomly grope them," she replied.

"Really? I've done it many times before to other women, and they don't mind," he mentioned. Kagome sighed.

"I can't account for those women, but Sango, as you can tell, doesn't like it. She's been through a lot lately. My best guess is that she doesn't know what to think of you; I mean, one minute you're decent, then perverted the next," Kagome explained. Miroku perked up at the 'she's been through a lot' statement.

"It may seem rude, but what has she been through?" Miroku asked. Kagome didn't know if she should answer him or not. For one thing, it wasn't her business or his, and she wasn't sure if Sango liked other people telling others her life story. But if Kagome didn't tell him, he would most likely never hear it from Sango. She didn't share much about her life with others.

"Well, promise you won't tell her I told you. She might tell you someday," Kagome said.

"I promise," Miroku answered.

And she told him.

The fool.

Sesshomaru sat at his desk in the Tensegia Corporations tower in New York City. He fiddled with his pen, playing an unsynchronized rhythm on the edge of the arm rest. He stared at the phone, which he hung up only minutes ago.

"Sesshomaru-sama, there's a phone call from InuYasha's secretary on line four," said his Rin, his own secretary over the intercom.

"Thank you," he replied as he picked up the phone. "Sesshomaru here,"

"Yes, Sesshomaru-sama. This is InuYasha's secretary, Shippo calling. I'm afraid I have some bad news about your half-brother…" Shippo trailed off, as if afraid to tell him.

"Spit it out," Sesshomaru said.

"I'm sorry to inform your half-brother is missing. We believe that his plane crashed en route home to Tokyo, and the plane cannot be found…he is presumed to be dead, sir…" the kitsune explained. Sesshomaru remained silent, allowing the news to sink in.

"I am sorry for your loss, sir," he added.

"Very well then," Sesshomaru replied, hanging up the phone.

He had been in silence since. He adjusted the glasses on his face. He stared out the window. He fiddled with his pen some more.

The fool.

Sesshomaru clenched his fist. He did not have a fondness for his brother, but he had to admit that he was a liable business asset. Not that he admitted that to anyone. He didn't even like admitting it to himself.

Then he had to go and get himself killed.

It was at that moment his personal assistant, the toad demon Jaken, came running in frantically.

"Sesshomaru-sama! Have you heard the terrible news?" he said between breaths.

"Indeed I have," Sesshomaru replied, "What has happened as a result?"

Jaken straightened himself up, trying to look and sound intelligent, most of the time, failing at both.

"Stocks for the company have declined immensely- but are still holding firm, everyone is in a panic, and that wretch's girlfriend has taken over his company!" Jaken said, sounding furious with the last statement. Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed, sending chills up Jaken's spine.

"What?" he said almost in a whisper, his face showing no expression. Jaken loosened his collar on his suit.

"Well, uh…apparently it was in InuYasha's will that she take over the company if he died, and um, since the chances of surviving a plane crash…" Jaken sputtered out.

Sesshomaru stared at his desk, contemplating his options. He clicked his pen. Jaken wiped the small amount of perspiration off his brow. Then, Sesshomaru leaned forward and pressed the intercom.

"Rin, could you come in here please?" he said. Immediately, a young girl wearing a light orange business suit and long black hair in a pony tail came in, with a notepad in hand.

"Yes, Sesshomaru-sama?" she asked.

"You and Jaken pack your bags. Get the private jet ready," he ordered.

"Yes, sir," she responded, writing it all down.

"Sesshomaru-sama, what are you--?" Jaken began. Sesshomaru stood up from his desk.

"We're going to Tokyo,"

It had been five days since InuYasha was supposed to return. Five days. It had only been three days ago that Shippo learned of the tragedy. Although Shippo bugged InuYasha to the last inch of his sanity, and InuYasha acted like a complete jerk all the time, Shippo missed him. And Miroku too. He couldn't believe that the CEO and the head of advertisement were just gone, like that.

The people in the office were at a panic. Without their leader, they were just headless chickens; running into everything, lost in what to do.

Especially since the reading of his will was done, that stated that his girlfriend, Kikyo, would get control the company if he were to die. This had come as a shock to everyone. Surely InuYasha would've given the company to one of his trusted board members, or maybe his butler Totousai, or maybe even Sesshomaru. Definitely not Kikyo.

Ever since the reading, Shippo had his suspicions about the woman's motives. She showed no sign of sadness; she didn't even arrange a service for the loss of her lover. He noticed that she spent a lot of time in InuYasha's office, but for all he knew, she could be mourning InuYasha in solitude.

He still couldn't think of why InuYasha would hand over his company to Kikyo, though. She had no business experience or seemed to care about it at all. Shippo had known InuYasha for a long time, and this was out of character for him. Kikyo never seemed to be fond of InuYasha always working; but she sure liked the money it produced. Deep down, Shippo felt that Kikyo was a gold digger.

He made his way up to what was now her office, to let her know her messages. She refused any one to call her office directly; she wanted messages to be taken, and for him to always knock before entering. That in itself was suspicious.

He approached the door, his hand inches from knocking when he heard voices…was that…laughter…that he heard?

Shippo leaned his ear up against the door. It was true; there was laughing, coming from Kikyo.

So much for 'mourning', he thought. Then another, unfamiliar voice filled Shippo's ears, but he couldn't make out what it was saying. It was a voice from a male.

There was silence for a moment, when something got knocked over. Both laughed quietly, Kikyo playfully 'shhing' the other man. Silence again. Shippo looked around to make sure no one was watching, and he pressed his ear closer.

He heard heavy breathing. Shippo moved so his eyes were looking in the gap between the two big doors. Although somewhat unclear, Shippo knew exactly what he saw.

Another man caressing Kikyo's neck.

He quietly backed away, walking back towards his desk. He pulled out his cell phone. Quietly he dialed a number, and informed the receiver of what he just saw.

Miroku looked at Sango from a far. He looked at her in a different aspect now; she was clearly different from the other girls he knew, the ones desperate for his attention, desperate for his wandering hand.

She was walking along the beach, but Miroku found her to almost be floating. Her head was facing the sand, feet occasionally being covered by the light ocean surf. The sunrise giving her a picturesque silhouette, the light ocean breeze catching her hair and her clothes…she was beautiful.

After what Kagome had told Miroku and InuYasha about Sango's past, Miroku began to hate himself for being so selfish. He had reflected, and noticed the sad look that occupied Sango's eyes. Now he understood. Why hadn't he noticed before?

Twinges of guilt ate at him, but the peaceful sadness that Sango was displaying now made him smile. Most of his 'fan club' as he called them tried everything in the book to look attractive to him, from pounds of make-up and hair products, and some went as far as plastic surgery. But Sango…her hair in small knots in her pony tail, rips in her clothing…Sango didn't need to try. She was naturally beautiful.

She looked up at him, noticing the peaceful look on his face. She seemed hurt, but calmed down from before. She made her way toward him, and he made his way toward her. When they reached each other, there was an awkward silence between them. To Miroku's surprise, Sango was the first to speak.

"I'm sorry for how I reacted earlier…" she said quietly, looking sheepishly at her feet.

"It's me who should be apologizing Sango. I shouldn't have behaved that way, it was very ungentle man-like of me," he responded. She turned away from him.

"There are just a lot of things I'm going through right now," she explained. Sadness covered every word. Miroku recalled what Kagome had said earlier.

"She's been through a lot lately. My best guess is that she doesn't know what to think of you… She might tell you someday…"

He turned Sango to face him, lifting her chin so she could look him in the eyes. He subconsciously noted that she was blushing.

"Whatever you've been going through, you can tell me about it, when you feel ready to share it with me. Just know that I'm here for you," he said softly. Tears border lined Sango's eyes.

"Okay…thank you, Miroku," she responded quietly. A glimpse of happiness flashed through her eyes. Miroku smiled. He put his arm around her and they headed back toward the others.

Please read and review! Have the next Chapter for next Monday! (NOT the one coming up!)