The Complex
Dea Mariella
Disclaimer: (sigh) I wish I could own them…for the royalties if nothing else!
A.N. FYI, this was written whilst listening to The Blue Zeps (wheeeeeeeeeee!)
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Chapter 9: Enter Intrigue
Her groceries settled in the roomy trunk of Miroku's car, Sango was seated shotgun. Her wildly zooming thoughts tried to make sense of the last five minutes.
'So wait, I was not only pressed against Miroku, but agreed to a ride…and asked for help in…matchmaking?'
She couldn't help it; she laughed. Laughed herself silly in fact. The proper term being hysterics, but it happens.
When she'd controlled herself, Miroku gave her an interested look, as if to say 'let me in on the joke!' Sango shook her head at the implied question. She was not about to explain the stupidity that sometimes encompasses all of us.
As she was opening her mouth to speak, Miroku beat her to it.
"Now, much as I would love to discuss this intriguing possibility of Inuyasha and Kagome with you, I think that you are aware of how much time is in the car ride. So, it is with that intent in mind that I ask if you would join me for a cup of tea." At her enquiring look, he continued in the same vein. "The car ride is far too short to hold a decent conversation such as the one that you are proposing. I would suggest a cup of tea at my apartment, but I fear that you would never go for it." She gave a vigorous negation. "Very well. Would you care to go to a little café that I know of? It's just around the corner, and really quite sweet."
Sango carefully searched his statements for any other intent, and could find nothing. After debating all of the possibilities in her mind, she came up with an appropriate alternative, but not without misgivings. She gave a silent sigh.
"As I have perishables in your trunk, we need to go back to my apartment. It would make no sense to go back out again. So why don't we just discuss this over tea and cake at my place?" She held her breath, hoping against all hope that Miroku did not take this the wrong way,
Miroku gave her a fleeting glance, and agreed.
Upon arriving at Sango's apartment complex, Miroku was ever the gentleman, and helped her bring the groceries up and into the apartment's kitchen. When he offered to help put them away, Sango shooed him off into the living room with a drink. She put the kettle on the stove, and set to putting the kitchen to rights. By the time that the water boiled, she was done.
Sango walked out to the living room, bearing a large tea tray. She set the tray down in front of Miroku, and bade him take his fill.
Helping himself to a large slice of cake, he mused, "This is quite a lovely apartment, Miss Sango. I like your use of the pictures."
The lady in question blushed slightly, and turned to look at the wall o' pictures. She had covered one wall in a mosaic of her family and friends. "Well, I didn't know quite what to do with them all! I'm not fond of scrapbooking, and albums never get any use. So I just hung them all up!"
They both laughed, but an oppressive weight hung over the room. Sango nervously twisted a napkin in her lap. When nothing appeared to be forthcoming, as Miroku was taking his cues from her, she began.
"It was kinda on the fly that I asked you to help me, but upon reflection, that's a fairly good idea. You see, I don't think that you saw their reactions to each other; it was fairly cataclysmic! They're both interested, but I don't really see either of them as making the move. You know what I mean, right?"
Miroku nodded thoughtfully. "Just what is it that you had in mind?"
"I'm not really sure," Sango admitted ruefully. "I guess about all that we can do now is to pool our information on our friends; I don't know that much about Inuyasha, and I don't think you know that much about Kagome. Capeesh?"
Miroku agreed, helping himself to another slice of cake. "Shall I start? I believe that I have more…er…dirt…on my friend than you on Kagome. For you've only known Kagome for a couple of weeks, correct?"
At her assent, he continued. "Well, I've known Inuyasha since we were kids. I first met him when I was 12 and he was 13. He had totally mauled this kid's bike, and was running for his life!"
At Sango's look of outrage, he elaborated. "The kid was the neighborhood bully. I found out later that he had been saying all sorts of bad stuff about his mom, what with her being a foreigner and all, and Inuyasha is a mamma's boy – all the way!"
They both laughed at that thought; foul-mouthed, foul-tempered Inuyasha paying loving attention to his mom.
"So what, was he bringing the mauled bike home as a trophy? Like my cat Kirara does with mice and moles?"
Miroku chuckled. "Actually, he just brought the tires! Anyways, he was running from the bully and his gang, and I just happened to open my door…right onto the bully's face."
As Sango started laughing again, he continued. "TOTAL accident, I ASSURE you! After Inuyasha had run around the block, he stopped back in at my house. Wanted to know why I helped him and such. I assuaged his fears about my making fun of him, and once he got over that, we became fairly good friends. As a matter of fact, I roomed with him for a while, back when my fa…when I was going through some tough times."
Sango nearly bit her tongue off, in the attempts to not ask what happened. She was NOT interested!
"What's the dating scene been like for him? I mean, he's obviously got SOME experience, but what kind of girls were they?"
Miroku shrugged. "He's had a few types. Anywhere from good girls looking for bad boys, to biker chicks, to some down right scary! His ex was one of the scary ones. Rusagihi Kikyou. She is a senior in Tokyo U, and is in Pre-Med. Really intelligent, but a bit of a stalker. They dated for about 7 months, but by the end, he was starting to get scared. She was always at him…I can't even begin to describe her. Unless you know her, she will never be as scary as she is. (A.N. Sounds like alot of people that i know...) Inuyasha changed his number several times, always unlisted, and she would call him the next day as if nothing had changed! Pretty though she was, she wasn't worth the harassment. Actually, she looks a bit like Kagome; though Kagome is much prettier. Far nicer too. When you know the two of them, there isn't much similarity. But just like most foreigners look the same until you know them, Kagome and Kikyou have a resemblance."
Sango nodded slowly. "I see what you mean. Wow, that sucks. To have such a crazy girlfriend…I wouldn't be able to function."
Miroku added slyly, "Yeah, I can see where a crazy girlfriend would throw you off. I mean, competing for PMS privileges would be…"
His words were cut off as Sango threw a pillow at his face. "That's not what I meant and you know that!"
"Yeah, but it was worth the expression on your face."
She huffed, but admitted to herself (not out loud!) that it was probably true.
"So what's the scoop on Kagome's love life?" Miroku asked with an interested look.
Glad of the change of subject, Sango launched into her friend's life. "Kagome dated a bit in middle and high school, but she only had one serious boyfriend. But, that ended unfortunately when she caught him cheating."
Miroku clucked sympathetically, "Some men just don't realize that most girls don't share well."
Sango arched an expressive eyebrow. "Oh and you have?" He had the grace to blush.
She continued the story, the best was coming up! "Actually, it wasn't the actual transgression that was the problem. It was the fact that it was with a guy."
Miroku choked on his tea. "W-what! A gorgeous creature like Kagome dating a gay guy? How did this happen?"
Sango laughed. "From what I heard, they were really good friends throughout all of school, and it kinda was expected that they date. So they did, for quite a while, four or five years I believe, but it just never got far beyond platonic. Apparently he thought that she could, and I quote, 'change him'. She was a touch bitter at this thought, but she should be coming along fine by now! Not to mention, a man like Inuyasha should be just what the doctor ordered! Now, how to get them together. Would you be able to push Inuyasha into something?"
Miroku frowned thoughtfully. "Perhaps if we were to go out with our respective friends…we could just HAPPEN to go to the same club…"
"That'll work! When do you want to have it set?"
"You're working Friday, correct?"
At her nod, he continued. "I'll work on Inuyasha. That'll give me four days get his grumpy butt in gear. I'll tell you which club on Friday. Think you can handle the Kagome end?"
Sango was lost in plans of shopping. "Er…what?"
With a gentle smile, Miroku repeated his question.
"Yes, I can do that fine. Kagome and I will be out after work on Friday. Can do!"
She beamed at him. Their plan was going to work! Kagome was going to be so happy…so long as she wasn't aware of the scheme. Well, this could be done. She'd MAKE it work!
Not ten minutes later, Miroku was escorted out. Sango was proud of the fact that it only took ten minutes. The second the door closed, she was on the phone.
"Hey Kagome? It's Sango! What are you doing Friday?"
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A.N. Wow…I have over 20 reviews…that makes me so happy, you would not believe it! Now, I have a couple of messages that I would like to give personally, but I'll finish up the general message. Back to the reviews, I love them, and keep 'em coming! I truly had meant to update this story for weeks, but just never got around to it…procrastinator…sorry…
Also, I'd like to recommend you all to my sister's fic…"Willing To Die Is Willing To Love". Her handle is Dark Entropy. It's very cool!
Anastasia Pelopinne: DO YOU REALIZE HOW HARD YOU ARE TO GET A HOLD OF! I won't even go into how long I spent trying to get a message to you. One word of advice...POST YOUR EMAIL ON YOUR BIO! That way I don't have to track you down in neopets!
SetsunaMew: Thank you for your support!
Dark Entropy: I'm just gonna leave it at 'you're stupid'. Check with me, I tell you when I update fer crissakes!
Shikon Magic: I feel sorry for you. How old are you?
Hanyou-ass: yes, it was you that gave me the kick in the pants to write. I'm still slowly but surely writing. I'll get this out eventually. Lol
Ta!