Long wait I know, but I really only update when the mood strikes me. Yeah, I'm the laziest chick you'll ever meet, but that's ok, after all, look at all the cool stuff I give you to read eh? Anyway, here we go.

The next few days were a little awkward with the rest of the staff of people working with the castle. Everyone was giving her weird looks and making sure to stay away from her. Everyone except Kagome that is.

Sango really felt good about the fact that she had only been here five days and she had already made a really good friend besides Kirara. As they dusted all the things in one of the rooms on the second floor, some other girls on the opposite side of the room, also dusting, began to talk about Sango.

"That's the girl I was telling you about!" whispered one of the girls.

"Really? The one who gets perks because she's sleeping with the Young Lord? You're kidding!" the other whispered back. Sango gave a sigh. This gossip was getting really annoying.

Ever since people had heard about her and Miroku, all kinds of rumors had been going around. The one that the girls had just mentioned wasn't the only version either.

Some of the others going around were saying things like she was an ex-brothel girl and just came here looking to get a rich lay, or that she was secretly stealing money from the Lord so that she could get out of here faster. And the list does go on. Sango really began to wonder how people got their imaginations so fired up over such a small thing.

And so the media was born.

Anyway, Kagome had been trying her best to try and keep people from rejecting Sango, though she wasn't having much luck. Sure, when she said something they would stop talking, but then they would talk about Kagome as well. This part made Sango feel awful.

"Kagome please," she'd say, "don't ruin your friendships around here because of me!"

But then, Kagome would just shake her head and say

"Sango, I want to help you. Plus, it looks like I'm the only one who wants to defend you!"

This mini conversation took place very often. It seemed like no one was on their side, except one woman who was about ten years older then them. The reason she wasn't against them was because she didn't go against anybody. She was more like a mother to all.

Her name was Machiko, or 'mama' as everyone called her. She was here because after her husband died in one of the wars, she needed to make money for her two children. Since a brothel wasn't exactly her first choice of work, she got her parents who lived near by to promise to take care of the kids and she would get some money so they could survive. All the money that she earned while working at the castle went to her parents for the kids.

Machiko was a little bit taller then Sango and Kagome, and was always wearing her favorite blue kimono. She said it was a gift from her husband before he died. She had beautiful hazel eyes that went perfectly with her glistening long black hair. She always wore a smile on her face and tried to treat everyone the same, even Sango.

"I wish that everyone would just drop this whole thing." Said Sango that day at dinner. She had her bowl and small fish and sat together with Machiko and Kagome on the floor.

"Don't worry sweetie, they'll all forget about it soon enough, you just have to be patient is all." Said Mama, taking a sip of the soup in her bowl. Kagome did the same, wiped her mouth, then countered

"I don't think that that's the case this time Mama." Sango nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, they all think that I'm going to be getting 'special perks' since I'm together with Mi- I mean the Young Lord."

Mama closed her eyes and thought a bit.

"Well, while that may be true, it's mostly because people are jealous."

"How so?" the other two girls asked in unison.

"Well, they think that you are going to get all of your debt repaid easier and more quickly than they are since you're up there with the top dogs of this place. They're jealous because they want to go home and have no more debt too, that's all."

Sango understood where Machiko was coming from. She'd feel that way to if she was everyone else.

"Just wait and see. I'll try and help you convince people too! How's that?" she said, giving Sango a wink. Sango gave her a bright smile and happily nodded. She looked over to Kagome.

"How did people survive here without her?"

"The world may never know."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sango went to bed that night feeling much better since the talk with Machiko-san. She had saved the fish from dinner and brought it to Kirara. After all, cats have to eat too. Kirara was getting a little bigger too. Maybe it was time she started walking around in more than just the room.

She decided that Kirara could wander the halls, but she had to make sure not to get caught. Kirara happily mewed at this new privilege she had.

Giving her a pat on the head, Sango went to sleep, Kagome already snoozing right next to her.

Kirara decided to take her first look around at night since there weren't many people around to see her. Plus if they did, it would be hard to see her at all since it was dark and all they had was candlelight.

She walked out and was taken aback by how big it was. When she was hiding behind Sango's hair it sure as hell didn't look that big.

The small cat demon shook it off and began playing and running around on the bottom floor. As she rolled and jumped and stretched her legs, Kirara found the staircase. Without a second thought, up she went.

She wasn't there for long, when she heard people coming. She quickly hid in a shadow and watched as two people walked down the hall, stopping in front of one of the candle lights.

"I can't believe you're showing up in the middle of the night." said one man who was obviously a guard. The other one had to be an outside because of his clothes. When she looked at him, Kirara couldn't help but growl a bit. This new man made her fur stand up on end.

"I'm sorry for troubling you, but I have come a long way. I hope that you will forgive me." Said the outsider as he bowed to the guard.

"Well, the Lord is sleeping right now, so I'll take you to one of the servant's rooms for tonight. Tomorrow you'll get a real room and meet with the Lord and Young Lord. By the way, what's your name sir?" he asked. The new man ran a hand through his hair in such a fashion that it could make any girl faint.

"I've come to be known as Yuki." He said. The guard bowed to him and welcomed him to the castle before going down the stairs and leading Yuki to a room.

Kirara continued moving around the castle and exploring, but the thought of Yuki really was bothering her. She ended up returning before sunrise.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sango woke up very easily that morning. She stretched and gave a long yawn. She looked over to her side and noticed that the bed that Kagome occupied was currently free of life. Kagome wasn't even in the room. She got up and went outside to see if she was already at breakfast.

When she arrived to the dinning area, there was a large crowd of people, mostly women, in ca certain area, all facing the same direction. Sango looked around and saw Kagome and carefully made her way over.

"Hey, why is everyone gathering here?" she asked. Kagome looked at her and shrugged.

"They all wanted to see this new guy who they said was really hot. He's the one over there with the short black hair and green eyes."

Kagome pointed over to the man that everyone was staring at. When she first looked at him, nothing, but after a few seconds of processing, a blush soon came to spread across her face. He really was gorgeous! Short black hair, jade eyes, and a perfectly shaped face. His bady, from what they could see, wasn't too shabby either.

"Hey you," said Kagome to her friend, "you have a man already. The last thing you need is more rumors about you being a slut."

Sango immediately snapped out of it. Kagome was right. She already had enough on her plate with Miroku, and the last thing she needed was to like another guy. It's not that Sango didn't think Miroku was sexy, oh God knows that that wasn't the case, but the man was just really good looking!

Sango and Kagome got their breakfast and sat with Machiko again. Sango looked over at Kagome and noticed something.

"Hey Kagome, how come you weren't drooling over that guy like the rest of us?"

Kagome blushed and quickly stuffed her face with rice so she wouldn't be able to answer. Sango laughed and couldn't help but look back at the new stranger again. He was defiantly eye candy.

Speaking of eyes, the outsider just happened to look over at Sango while she was staring at him, so their eyes met for a minute. Sango shook her head and blushed, turning back to the others as soon as she came back to her senses.

The stranger smirked as he remembered the description Lady Koharu had given him.

'That's the girl.' He thought, 'Time to make her life a living hell.'

He got up, getting many oos and ahhs from the gathered crowd that was a small distance from him. He started walking towards Sango. She couldn't see since her back was to him, but Kagome and Mama saw.

"Hey, I think you've got someone who wants to talk to you." Said Kagome pointing to the new guy. Sango turned and gulped down the small amount of rice in her mouth.

"H-hi." She managed. He gave her an awesome smile and bowed.

"Hello, my name is Yuki. Nice to meet you." He took her hand and gave it a light kiss. Sango immediately pulled it back and blushed. The crowd of fangirls almost died. Yuki was being such a gentleman, it was partially distracting them from the rage that they had towards Sango right now.

"What was that for?" she asked. He smirked and gave a small laugh. He took her chin in his hand.

"Why do you think sweetie?" he said in a bit of a seductive tone. He tried to lean down to kiss her, but Sango brought her hand up and smacked the living daylights out of him.

He fell back a little from the shock, but quickly regained his balance. There was a loud gasp from the crowd and a few flops since some had fainted.

"H-hey!" she started, "you're cute...handsome...gorgeous..." she shook her head and tried to get back on track, "but...but I'm already seeing someone."

Yuki rubbed the spot where Sango had smacked him.

"Please for give my mistake." He said, bowing to her yet again, before turning back to the crowd of girls all begging to get the same treatment as Sango.

Mama gave Sango a pat on the back.

"Nice one Sango!" she said, "That guy was a real jerk anyway."

Sango nodded, and watched Yuki get mauled by the girls. As she watched, he looked back at her and blew her a kiss, followed by a wink. Sango looked away, then faced Kagome and Machiko, confessing what she was feeling.

"Yeah...but something's telling me that's not the last of him..."

Alrighty then, there ya go. I know this chapter was really boring, but it had to go up so it could explain some stuff. Anyway, we got new characters, new problems, and pour Miroku wasn't even in this chapter! Don't worry, I'll get him in there some how in the next one, K?

Also please, I really would like it if you reviewed! I hate to beg, but it would really make me happy. After all, the more you review, the faster I update!