Disclaimer: I don't own these characters!

Chapter 5

Bankotsu rolled up into the parking lot in his 1967 dark blue chevy impala around 9pm. There was only one other car in the parking lot and he wondered if it was Sango's. He didn't even know for sure if she was closing up the restaurant tonight, but she seemed to be a workaholic so he had a good feeling she would be.

The lights inside were still on but the sign on the door said "closed" so he would soon find out whether she was there or not. He drummed his thumbs on the steering wheel to distract himself while he waited.

After a few minutes with still no sign of movement he dug into his pocket to once again look at the locket that belonged to the beauty the intrigued him so much. Just as he was about to open it up he heard the bell to the restaurant door ring. He looked up and there she was.

She was with another girl, they exchanged a few words and then the locked the door to the restaurant. The girl headed towards the only parked car and Sango headed for the sidewalk. Bankotsu watched Sango wave to the girl as she drove away and he couldn't believe that the girl had let Sango walk home alone.

"Oh no you don't!" Bankotsu muttered in disbelief as he opened the car door and ran towards her.

"Sango!"

Sango had just finished wiping down all of the table tops in her area and was finally set to go home for the night. She sighed in relief promising herself a soak in a warm bath once she got home.

She grabbed her things from her locker in the back room to the restaurant and then headed out the door with the nighttime manager close behind her. Once the door was locked her manager turned to her.

"Are you sure you don't need a ride Sango?"

"No I'll be fine, I don't live that far. My car will be out of the shop in a few days. Thanks for offering though." Sango smiled politely.

"Well if you insist but just be careful and make sure you get home ok, there aren't many hard workers around like you anymore and I don't know what we'd do without you at the restaurant."

They shared a quick laugh and said goodbye and then headed their separate ways.

Sango silently cursed her car as she walked through the parking lot towards the sidewalk. She didn't live very far but it was chilly out at night, and she didn't like walking alone, of course she carried some pepper spray in her bag just in case, but she still didn't feel completely safe walking the streets alone at night.

It was at that moment when Sango heard footsteps behind her. She tensed feeling her heart stop as she quickly fumbled through her purse for the pepper spray, before she could grab it though, she heard someone call her name.

"Sango!"

She jumped at the sound of her name and turned around surprised as the foot steps closed in on her. She was even more surprised to see who it was that had called her name. It was Bankotsu. Her heart slowed its pace and she let out her breath that she didn't know that she was holding.

"What are you doing here? She asked completely confused and surprised.

"I should ask you the same question, what are you doing walking home alone at night, its not a very good idea." Bankotsu said disapprovingly.

"How did you know I would be walking home alone? Are you following me?" Sango asked uneasily, he was a handsome boy, but she was defiantly confused.

"No! Do I look like the kind of guy who would follow girls around at night? I came because you dropped this earlier." Bankotsu reached into his pocket pulling out the locket.

"It looks like it may be important to you." He eyed her as he held it out for her to take.

Sango stared at him in disbelief, she reached for her neck where the necklace should be only to obiviously find that it was missing. The locket held a picture of her mother and her when she was little. Her mother died in a car crash shortly after the picture was taken. Sango hadn't taken the locket off in years. It had fallen of a few times, but to her relief she was always able to find it.

Sango reached for the locket and took it out of Bankotsu's hand.

"How did you know this was mine?" Sango asked dazed, shewas so grateful that he had found it, but was confused as to how he knew it was hers.

"Well like I said, you dropped it earlier today when I came in to see you. After you stormed off, I noticed it on the floor. I thought I had seen you wearing it and once I saw the picture I knew it had to be yours, you look so much like the child in the picture, and the woman too."

Sango looked him in the eyes and held his gaze.

"Thankyou so much for returning this, you didn't have too, but you did. It means so much to me, I don't know what I'd do without it." She replied sincerely.

Bankotsu smirked at her in return.

"I'm a sucker for a damsel in distress, I had to return it." He flashed her a grin.

Sango rolled her eyes and fastened the locket securely around her neck once again.

"With that being said, I can't let you walk home alone. Come on I'll give you a ride." Bankotsu said as he watched her fasten the locket where it belonged.

"I don't live very far. I'll just walk." Sango shrugged as she readjusted her bag on her shoulder preparing to leave.

"It's either you let me drive you home, or I follow you home with my car just to make sure you get home safe." He stared at her trying to hole back a smirk but he did mean what he said.

Sango looked at him guessing he was probably telling the truth so she sighed. There was no use arguing with him, and he was nice enough to return her locket.

"Fine." Sango gave in she headed to the only car in the parking lot.

Bankotsu followed closely behind her biting his bottom lip as he held back his excitement. He had liked this girl ever since he laid eyes on her, and now she was getting into his car with him. She was feisty and didn't give in to trusting someone easily but he liked a challenge.

Sango couldn't believe that she had just met this guy the other day and here she was getting into a car with him. He was nice enough to return her necklace though, so she decided that she would be nice to him. She admired his car as she got a closer look at it.

"Nice car." She offered him as she reached the car door.

"Thanks, I've put a lot of work into this baby." He rubbed the side and then unlocked the doors for them to get in.

Sango slid into the car seat and reached for her seat belt.

"A '67 chevy impala. Must have been hard to find around here, not cheap either."

Bankotsu turned in his seat and stared at her in disbelief. She knew cars! Was there anything about this girl to dislike? He couldn't believe that she was real.

"Yea it wasn't easy to get my hands on, It took me a while to save up the money just to get this baby, and I've been working ever since just for parts, I didn't get it in the best condition, but I've fixed her up quite nice." Bankotsu smiled as he put the key in the ignition and rolled to the edge of the parking lot.

"Where am I going?" He asked.

"Right. I live on Autumn Avenue."

"Oh I know where that is, It's off of Main Street right? I passed it the other day with my brothers.

"That's it." Sango replied as she looked out the window.

"So how do you know so much about cars?" Bankotsu asked trying to get her out of her shell a bit.

"My dad loves cars. He used to drag my little brother and I to car shows when we were younger and tell us all about the old cars. He drilled it into our heads the respect a nice car." The side of Sango's mouth slightly raised at the memory.

Bankotsu caught it and asked, "Do you live with your dad now?"

"No, He just moved out a few months ago. I'm still living in his house with my brother, my dad just recently re-married so he's out vacationing with my new step mom. He left us to tend to the house, we grew up there." Sango replied causually.

"Oh yea? Good for him. How does it feel to be on your own? Throwing a lot of parties?" Bankotsu laughed as he awaited her response.

Sango looked at him and shook her head with a small smile.

"It's alright I guess, it's different that's for sure, I'm happy for my dad, but it's weird not having him around. I talk to him a lot over the phone, but at least I still have my brother with me, and my cat Kilala." Sango smiled at the mention of her cat.

"I like cats too." Bankotsu replied seeing her smile. "It must be nice for your brother to live with you, sounds like you take good care of him."

"I try." she replied. "What about you? Have you lived here long?" Sango turned to look at him getting a glimpse of his beautiful blue eyes and handsome face before he turned to keep his eyes on the road. Which was proving difficult for him.

"I actually just moved here with my brothers. We work on houses together so we moved around a lot. I'm the youngest but the one older than me, Jakotsu, was begging for us to settle in a home for a little while, he hates the traveling." Bankotsu chuckled at the memory with his brother.

They turned onto Sango's street. Sango pointed to her house and Bankotsu pulled into the driveway.

"You know I'm still fairly new here though so I'd be nice to have someone to show me around. You know maybe a pretty girl who's lived here for a while." he smirked as he looked at her.

Sango smiled lightly. "Maybe if I ever get a day off work-"

"So never?" he cut her off.

She laughed for the first time and he liked the sound, It matched her melodic voice and he smiled enjoying every minute.

"You're not as bad as I thought Bankotsu. You're alright." She completely smiled at him for the first time and it was beautiful.

"Does that mean you'll show me around?" he questioned, smiling.

"We'll see, So I'm assuming I'll see you at work tomorrow?" she joked.

"Yea, I'll buy something though so you can't kick me out!"

They both laughed. Sango got out of the car but leaned down to look at him before she shut the door.

"Thanks for this. The locket and the ride home, it was really nice."

"No problem, anything for a pretty girl such as yourself. I'll see you tomorrow." He winked.

Sango rolled her eyes and shut the car door. Bankotsu chuckled and waited for her to get inside before pulling out of the driveway and heading home. Tonight had turned out way better than he expected. He hadn't ever been this crazy about a girl before, he really genuinely liked her. Hopefully he'd hear her pretty laugh again tomorrow when he'd see her. He smirked the whole way home, and couldn't wait to rub it in Renkotsu's face that he gave Sango a ride home.

Sango got inside and locked the door. She leaned against the back of the door and bit her bottom lip. She liked him. She hadn't liked a boy in so long. As soon as she saw him at her table the other day she knew that his handsome face was going to cause a war between her heart and her head.

She never let anyone in because she was too afraid to get hurt, and there she was letting him drive her home tonight. It was going to take some time but she wanted to get to know him.

She called to Kohaku letting him know she was home and then headed up the stairs to get ready for that bath that she promised herself earlier replaying the events of tonight over in her mind.

I hope you liked it! Sorry it's been a little while. I'll try to update again soon!

-Fearlessmaiden34