A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews. :3 I wanted to reply to them, but if I waited to do that, I would've spent the time I had to update to reply. I've been really busy (with AP tests going on and stuff) but here's an update. I think this chapter is quite interesting.

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or anything else mentioned in this story; duh. XD
Rated: Mature For crude language, sexual references, and mature situations.

CHAPTER 22

The bookstore was surprisingly crowded when I walked in Saturday night. Kagura, Kohaku, and I had decided to come to the mall to relax a bit a just buy random crap that we didn't need but wanted anyways. Well it was more like Kagura demanding to buy us stuff, but that's just how she was, so I caved and allowed her to do so. We were about to leave when I remembered that I had promised to buy Asuka a new book because those assholes had ruined the one I had given her. It was Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own and I knew that I could get another copy here because this was where I first bought it.

"Sango, hurry up, this place sucks," Kohaku complained and I rolled my eyes at him. Young boys had no passion for reading nowadays. And to confirm my thoughts, he wandered off into the magazine section where he'd find numerous numbers of magazines with pictures of women in bikinis and Hollywood stars. Not to say there was anything wrong with women in bikinis…

I didn't say anything as I ditched Kagura and headed over to the section where I was sure to find the short book. Sure enough, it was there and I quickly picked it up.

"Sango Taijiya," a voice spoke and I looked up to see Mr. Taishou gazing at me with narrow eyes. He seemed to have a large book in his hands. "It's good to see, you up and about, still wearing all of that unflattering jewelry."

I blushed remembering how he used to always comment on my lip and eyebrow piercings. What an asshole, but it was all in jest… I think.

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered, wondering what he was doing at a book store. What kind of books did he read? Getting a good look at what he had in his hands I realized it was a scientific journal. One of those books scientists use to publish their findings filled with all sorts of unnecessary jargon and huge words that could easily be substituted for something much simpler.

That seemed like something he would read, pompous little-

"No, it is really good to see you," he replied with an almost-smile. I cocked an eyebrow upwards and he chuckled. "We teachers at the school were worried about you."

"What? Really?" I was surprised.

"Yes; we know you're not the most pleasant student to have but you have outstanding ideas and grades; it was a shame to see you go."

"It was for the best," I mumbled before sighing. "I kind of promised Kagura that I'd be quick about getting this book, so I guess I'll talk to you later or whatever."

Ignoring my dismissive attitude he spoke slowly, "Your… guardian is here with you?"

"Yeah."

"Do you mind if I speak with her?"

"What?... What are you up to?"

"Nothing… I've just never met her before. She must be a fierce woman to put up with you."

As soon as I was going to protest, someone beat me to it.

"Fierce? Ah, well you could say that."

I turned to see Kagura standing there, looking bored. Well, that was until her auburn eyes fell onto Mr. Taishou. Her cheeks tinted slightly and she seemed to suddenly have impeccable posture. A sly smile came to her lips before she stepped forward.

"Sango, aren't you going to introduce me?" she asked shooting me a strange look.

"Oh, oh yeah," I said, suddenly coming to a realization.

"Kagura, this is Sesshoumaru Taishou, my old biology teacher. Sesshoumaru, this is Kagura Kaze my parental figure," I gave the typical introduction. The two smiled at each other and Kagura offered her hand which Sesshoumaru readily took and gave a gentle shake.

"A pleasure to meet you," Sesshoumaru said with his honey gold eyes straying all over her face.

"You too Mr. Taishou," Kagura said with a lustful look in her eye. I suddenly felt sick to my stomach and excused myself as the two made small talk. That would be very interesting if it were to evolve into something else. I paid for the book and then found Kohaku who looked relieved to be leaving until I told him we'd be here for a little longer because Kagura was talking to one of my old teachers. We headed over to the Starbucks that was in the store and I bought us both hot chocolate and a muffin to share.

Kohaku picked up another magazine and I looked on uninterestedly for little while reading whatever was on the pages he stopped on. I felt a little anxious and uneasy and looked around a bit. I'd been plagued with paranoia after the incident with Naraku. There wasn't really a moment I wasn't on edge. Any second, some freak could come after me or my family. I looked around again, not seeing anyone that seemed like a threat and sighed. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched so I looked around again.

At the café counter was a barista whose dark eyes seemed to be pinned to me. She noticed that I noticed her staring and looked away with a slight blush. My heart thudded hard against my ribcage because… well for a moment, she had looked like Kagome. I gazed at her realizing that it wasn't for only a moment that she looked like Kagome. She just… looked like her. I blinked, thinking that maybe I was losing my mind finally. No, she certainly looked like Kagome. A bit older perhaps, and certainly paler, with longer hair.

She looked up again and I held her gaze for a moment before Kohaku punched me lightly in the arm.

"Hey! You shouldn't be checking out other girls. Don't you have a girlfriend?" he chastised and I glared at him lightly before looking away. He was right, and I knew it. It was just that… this girl's resemblance to Kagome was really… oh, I don't know. Whatever the case, her looking like Kagome made her very attractive to me.

"Whoa, she looks like Kagome," Kohaku stated the obvious and I rolled my eyes at him. Doing so made me catch sight of Sesshoumaru and Kagura talking. Kagura kept stealing glances at me as well as Sesshoumaru. I finally decided they were up to no good and it was time to break them up before they planned anything detrimental to my health.

I told Kohaku it was time to leave and he eagerly stood following me over to where the other two were standing. As they saw me approaching, they exchanged quick mumbles and Kagura gave me a bright smile. As soon as I stopped once I got close enough, Sesshoumaru asked to speak to me alone.

It was then my suspicions were concerned.

I sighed and gave him my full attention. Well, mostly. I couldn't help but marvel at his perfect hair, long and straight and pulled into a low and humble ponytail. I felt uneasy with him but allowed him to speak.

"Sango," he said, despite the fact that he had my attention.

"What?" I replied rudely. He pursed his lips, but continued.

"It has come to my attention that one of my students isn't performing at her best in my class because of you."

"What?!" I was surprised. What the hell was he talking about?

"You heard me correctly," he said gazing down at me with his calculating eyes. He was soooo up to something.

"Look, I don't know what you're-" and then, it hit me. It was Kagome. Was she really doing badly in his class? Was it really because of me? Why should I care anyways? She broke my heart. I shouldn't give a damn about her.

But the truth was, I did, and Sesshoumaru knew this.

"Sesshoumaru," I said seriously. "I don't know what you expect me to do or say about this. If it's Kagome you're talking about, then you must know she and I aren't friends anymore."

"I am aware of this," he said with is gaze not leaving my eyes. "I am, in truth, concerned about her performance in my class. She has become very distracted and looks as if she is always tired. All of this began a little while before you took leave from school. You were really her closest friend and I know you could get her to talk about anything. It might not even be just you. It might be something else. I'm just concerned, really. Students like her don't "just barely" pass my class. Students like her breeze through it."

"I don't care, Sesshoumaru. I don't really give a fuck, and if you expect me to go seek her out and find out what's wrong with her, you've got another thing coming. She made the decision to not be friends with me. Who am I to go against her wishes?" I bit my lip and looked away. He wouldn't buy that. He could see what I really wanted.

He was silent and I looked up to see him still staring at me. It unnerved me; he was so strange.

"She told me that she tried to apologize to you," he spoke carefully after a long moment of silence. "She told me that you told her to 'fuck off.'"

I instantly felt guilty. That was just my defense; I didn't want to leave myself open again. The last time I opened up, I got hurt. Who's to say she wouldn't do it again?

"Sango," his voice was stern. I felt as if I were in trouble, getting a behavioral referral, despite the fact that I was no longer a student at that school. "You should at least allow her to apologize. Don't let your pride get in the way of making amends. You'll have to live with knowing, for the rest of your life, that you never made up with Kagome Higurashi."

I didn't reply and he didn't say anything. He merely turned away muttering a "see you later." I ran my tongue along the part of my lip ring that was in my mouth while deep in thought. I wanted to be friends with her again, but I knew that if I started seeing her again, my feelings, which were now just a dull ache, would come back stronger than ever. It would hurt worse than anything imaginable. My old problems would come back. My old pain. Was it worth that? I didn't know. All I knew was that it was a decision that would take a while to make.

We left soon after that. I glanced back as we were leaving, feeling eyes burning into me, only to see that girl at the café counter staring at me. I shuddered, not liking the way she had been looking at me. I didn't plan on going back there for a long time.

It was Sunday afternoon when I called Asuka. I had tried earlier, but she hadn't answered, which was strange. She usually answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey," I replied, glad that she answered this time around. "I called earlier."

"I know. I was at church."

"Church?" I asked. What the fuck? What kind of lesbian went to church?

"Look, don't say anything."

"What? About you going to church?" I asked, worried about her defensive tone. Was she picked on a lot for it?

"Yeah," she replied simply. I frowned at her behavior. I didn't pick on her much, and if I did, it was only playfully. I wouldn't want to hurt her feelings.

"Oh, I won't," I decided, still finding it strange that she attended church. Shutting those thoughts away, I continued, "I want to see you. Can you come over?"

"I'll ask my mom," she said before the phone went silent. It was moments later she returned. "She wants to know if you'll come and get me."

"Oh, yeah, of course," I replied and she left once more. I took that time alone to wonder about her going to church. It was a contradictory thing, but she must've had a reason to do so. I wanted to ask her about it, but I didn't want to come off confrontational, which I was bound to do because I wasn't a religious person at all and I often shut religious people up very quickly.

"Hello?" her voice returned and I let that train of thought slide into the station.

"Yeah; what did she say?"

"She said I can go."

"Cool, I'll see you in a little while."

"Ok," she said before I hung up. I hopped into my car, bucked my seatbelt and thought about Kagome the whole while to Asuka's house. God, I loved her so much. I wish things didn't have to be the way they were. I wish I didn't have to think about her nonstop and ache in my heart about how we couldn't be together. I wish I could just have my life back. I wish things could go back to the way they had been.

Asuka came out and sat in the car. She was dressed pretty casually with comfortable jeans and a plain purple shirt. Her hair was done up in a messy bun, which I found exceedingly adorable. She mumbled a greeting to me and I nodded before pulling out of the driveway. It was silent on the way back to my house; the only sound was that of my engine purring and the slight sound of music coming from the speakers. I had put the music down on the way to her house.

We eventually found ourselves in my room, relaxing on my bed. Kagura had left us some snacks, which I found a bit creepy, but I appreciated it nonetheless. I saw staring at the ceiling when I remembered what I had really invited her over for.

"Yo, Asuka," I said suddenly, sitting up. She gazed at me tiredly and sat up as well while lifting an eyebrow.

"I bought that book for you again," I said, getting up and retrieving it from my shelf. When I turned back to her, she had this look in her eye.

"What?" I questioned, never having seen that look before. It was uncomfortable, to say the least. She blushed and shook her head as I sat on my bed. Handing it to her, she flipped the pages once before sniffling. I realized that her eyes were wet. Was she crying? …Or was she going to cry?

"Asuka," I mumbled and she set the book down, looking me right in the eye.

"Sango, you are the sweetest girl I've ever met."

I blushed and shook my head, not agreeing. I used to be a real bitch and that hasn't changed much—I just work on keeping it in more times than not. I realize nothing productive can come from my cynical comments.

"Thanks," I shrugged with a slight smile. Asuka was so cute that I could barely handle it.

"I was thinking about you today," she said causing me to blush. "I was sitting in church, thinking about you instead of her. I felt… kind of bad. Like, it was bad enough for me to think about her, in church no less, but then I started thinking about you and… I don't know… I got really depressed. Because… because I realized that I'm starting to get some serious feeling for you, Sango. And I don't want that."

I was surprised and could only gaze into her dark eyes, wondering what to do. She was starting to have feelings for me? But, wasn't that to be expected when you spend so much time with someone? When I didn't reply she continued.

"I'm starting to fall in love with you, and I don't want to, Sango, because it would be just as hopeless as… my other situation."

"Asuka," I replied, not sure what to say. I was really flattered, but I also didn't want that, because I didn't want to hurt her. I sighed, absolutely confused. What was I supposed to do about this?

She sighed as she lay back, cradling the book to her chest.

"Well I'm glad that's over with," she mumbled, shutting her eyes. And just like that, the conversation was over. I liked that about her—she often failed to complicate things, and that was very relaxing. I was curious about what she said, however, and I couldn't just let things go. Especially the church topic, which had been bugging me for a long while now; ha, well just for a couple of hours.

"Asuka, I have to ask, and I don't want to come off rude or anything," I started and she shrugged before giving me her complete attention. "Why do you go to church?"

She frowned and opened her mouth and I interjected, to explain myself.

"I'm not ignorant, or anything, I mean, I understand you can be gay and religious, it's just the idea of it that confuses me. Usually people who oppose homosexuality are religious people."

"Well I was born into a Christian family, and I always enjoyed going to church," she said and then paused for a moment. "When I realized I was a gay, that didn't change how much I liked going to church or how much belief in God I had… It just… made me feel guilty, that's all."

I nodded slowly, processing where she was going with this. It still didn't make much sense to me.

"Why believe in a God that hates you for what he made you become?"

She gave a wry laugh and answered easily, as if reciting from a book, "God doesn't hate me; he can't. He's just disappointed, I guess, that I'm not passing his test. But he'll love me no matter what. When the word turns its back on me, I know he's there for me."

I kept my mouth shut, keeping back all of my rude and clever replies. Why try to tear down something that kept her happy?

"So, are you ever going to tell me who this mystery girl is?" I asked sitting against my headboard. She glanced up at me, obviously debating whether or not to tell me.

"You have to… promise not to judge me."

My eyebrows furrowed. Of course I wouldn't judge her. What would make her think that?

"I promise," I said searching her eyes desperately for something that would give away her worry, but like usual, I couldn't make anything out in her dark eyes.

"I'm serious Sango. You can't just say that to make me feel better."

I sighed and then asked, "It's your sister; isn't it?"

Her face paled, exceptionally so, and her eyes widened. Taking a breath she nodded, not even attempting to speak.

"How the hell did that happen?"

With a wry smile she spoke, "I don't know, but I wish it hadn't."

"It must be… tough," I replied, looking away from her. I'd had the suspicious before, but her actually admitting to it… validated that, and I was having a harder time digesting it than I thought.

"Yeah," she spoke softly, and I glanced back at her. She seemed as if she were lost in thought and sighed before focusing on me again. "It is tough, especially when she dates all of these people and I have to sit by, not saying anything to her, because I can't risk being kicked out of my house or being labeled as more of a freak than I already am."

I reached forward and loosely grabbed her wrist, pulling her hand away from her book. I held it gently, hoping to show her that I would be her support.

"That's why I was so eager to jump into a relationship with you. I felt bad about it, though, because my situation has no hope at all and yours does, just slightly. I felt like I was dragging you down with me."

I shook my head, hoping to appease her pain, just a little. I knew she'd never want to hurt me. It wasn't in her nature to do so.

"This is why I think the world is fucked up," I mumbled, pressing her knuckles against my lips. "People aren't detrimental to society when they start wars for what they believe in or to protect people they love, but the moment someone does love someone that society thinks they "shouldn't" they get all angry and upset and hateful. Society can support wars, but not love, and I think that's so wrong," I was bitter about the subject. It wasn't her fault she fell in love with her sister. She couldn't control who she fell in love with. Why should she have to hide her love? Why should she have to hide her purest contribution to this dark and dirty world?

"Look, don't change your opinion on this just because of me. It's ok to think I'm disgusting or whatever… Just… Oh, I don't know," she finished with a huge sigh.

"I don't care about that, Asuka," I spoke, carefully trying to word my thoughts. "I support you, ok, through whatever. I don't fucking care if you end up with your mom or something because that doesn't change who you are as a person."

"Ok, now that would be gross," she giggled despite her obviously upset state and I smiled. At least I could make her smile when she was sad, or even when she didn't want to.

"So, since you guys are twins and are alike, in ways, don't you think she maybe thought about you in some romantic way too?" I suggested and she laughed.

"You know, when we met at that party… When I saw you with Kocho and… Oh God, I was so angry. I'd never been so mad in my life… I thought I was going to explode. But then… then you offered me the opportunity of a lifetime. And well, kissing her that night was better than kissing her before," she finished with a voice that was nearly nonexistent.

"You've kissed your sister before?" I asked, the words seeming repulsive in my mouth. However, once I attached them to the situation, that disgust faded into sympathy. It was obvious that I was torn, but I had always been a bit of a nonconformist and I knew that this situation society deemed as a problem would soon seem like everyday life to me.

"Well, it was a couple years ago and she had a date with her first boyfriend and she was worried he'd want to make out and she wouldn't know how," she paused. "To make a long story short, she asked me to help her practice and we both had our first kiss… That was about the last time we had a first anything with each other."

"Oh, so you weren't a virgin when I met you?" I asked and her face turned the reddest red I had seen on a human face, ever.

"I was," she spluttered. "Kocho wasn't."

"Hmm, ok. Well that would explain why you were kissing her so much that night."

"Sango, can we not talk about that?"

"Why not?" I asked, thoroughly confused. When had she become such a prude? I mean, she was being extra shy today, but I did have to take into account that she just shared her darkest secret with me. Perhaps that was enough teasing for today…

"I just… don't feel comfortable talking about that. That was just after I realized how much I really loved Kocho, more than a sister, and I didn't do what was right and I took advantage of your offer and her drunkenness." She looked absolutely disgusted with herself and I gave her hand a squeeze.

"If it makes you feel any better, she was kissing you right back," I teased and she blushed even more.

"That doesn't mean much though, Sango," she smiled wryly. There was a long pause before she continued. "I think I'll be just fine; maybe terribly jealous every time she starts dating someone new, but I think I'll be alright."

"Well I'm glad you trusted me enough to tell me this," I replied with a smile.

"I trust you more than I think I should," she replied to that and she smiled gently. "I like trusting you, though."

I pressed my lips to her cheek, softly. She was cold. I pressed my cheek against hers and thought of ways to get Kagome back into my life. After hearing about Asuka's hopeless situation, I decided that at least one of us should pursue our conquests. I could at least welcome Kagome as a friend again—she deserved that much.

Thanks for reading, please review.
-Enigmatic Ethereality