"Who the hell are you?"

She doesn't mean for it to come out sounding that brash, but she is surprised to see a stranger in her kitchen. She catches him mid-action, putting away a plate that doesn't look anything like the plates that are currently in her cabinet. His mouth parts open in surprise, like he wasn't expecting her to be here. She watches with calculating eyes as he puts the dark blue plate down on the countertop, turning his attention toward her.

"Are you Sango?"

"I'll ask you one more time," she says in a low voice. She grips the doorknob as if it's her lifeline. Something brushes against her subconscious mind. She forces herself to stay calm. "Who the hell are you?"

"Kagome didn't tell you." It wasn't a question. He laughs humorlessly, scratching the back of his head. She wonders briefly if that's his nervous tick.

Her lips purse. "Tell me what?"

"I'm taking over her lease for the next 273 days. I was supposed to move in a few days from now but was able to move in earlier."

Anger swells deep within her. "Excuse me?" She shakes her head. Her knuckles are white from her grip on the door handle. "I was supposed to help Kagome pack today. Why wouldn't she contact me about this? The girl moving into her room was supposed to be her friend. I don't remember her saying anything about her friend being male."

She doesn't like the way he's looking her over. His eyes are dark, like the night sky. She hates the sympathy she sees in depths of those eyes, shining through like stars. She doesn't need his pity. She needs answers.

"Plans change," he says finally with a sigh.

She's having trouble containing her anger. It pushes against her, crashing in waves that threaten to break her resolve. She has to bite her tongue to keep from saying something she'll regret. It's not this man's fault that this is happening. He doesn't deserve her temper. She swallows her irritation down, focusing instead on Kagome. She wasn't the type of person who would let some strange man take over her lease.

The man speaks again, "To answer your earlier question, my name is Miroku. I'm a friend of InuYasha's."

"Sango," she replies. She finally relinquishes her grasp on the door, running a hand through her bangs. "I'm Sango." His name sounds somewhat familiar. She's sure she's heard InuYasha mention it before. This makes her feel slightly better, albeit she's not sure how she feels about the whole situation. "If you don't mind, Miroku," his name tastes foreign on her tongue as she tests it out, "I'm going to call Kagome to find out what is going on." She turns her attention to her suitcase and starts to fumble with the outside pouch zipper.

"Oh, no need," he says with a small smile. "She's downstairs with InuYasha. They're finishing packing up her things and helping me move in. I can't believe you missed them on your way up."

The nerve of this guy! "And you just causally forgot to mention that?" The bite is back in her voice. "You could have led with that. What is wrong with you?"

"A lot of things, but he's mostly harmless."

Sango swirls around at the sound of InuYasha's voice. "InuYasha! Kagome!" She runs over to hug her roommate. Former roommate, she mentally corrects. "What is going on? Why does this man—"

"Miroku."

She ignores him, "-say he's taking over the remainder of your lease? What is going on? I thought we had agreed on one of your girl friends," she says with a strong emphasis on the word girl as she stares daggers at Miroku.

Kagome pulls back. "I am so sorry, Sango. I tried to call you, but I guess your phone was turned off while you were flying back today. I did leave a couple of voicemails in the hope you would get them once you got off the plane, but I guess you didn't." She laughs, waving a hand in front of her. "Everything happened so fast. My friend backed out and Miroku needed a place to stay. I didn't want to leave you without a roommate, so we thought it would be a win-win situation! We know him well, and I know you will put him in his place if need be." Kagome sends a warning glare over Sango's shoulder in Miroku's direction.

Miroku's laugh fills Sango's ears. She glances back and sees him rubbing the back of his head again. He shoots her a sheepish grin. "I'll be on my best behavior."

She doesn't believe that innocence for a second. "I don't like the sound of that," Sango says, eyeing him with a wary expression. He's all smiles though. She can see through that in a second. She turns her attention back to Kagome and InuYasha. "Let me get changed and I'll help you guys finish up. I caught an earlier flight so I could help out."

"Sounds good," Kagome says. "We're almost done. Miroku helped out quite a bit before you arrived."

At least he's helpful, Sango thinks wistfully as she grabs her suitcase and heads for her room adjacent to the kitchen. She glances at Miroku as she walks past the counter, his pensive eyes watching her every step. His lips tip up slightly in a smirk. She frowns as she rounds the corner, still feeling his gaze burning into her. She wonders if she'll feel like this every day with him. Like she's small. Claustrophobic, even. She hopes not. It's unnerving.

She shuts the door behind her and spots her cat, Kirara, curled up in a ball on her perch. The cream cat lifts her head and lets out a mew. Sango scratches under her chin, gushing, "I missed you too, Kirara." She gets purrs in response and knows she's forgiven for leaving for the weekend. Sango wonders if Kagome let Miroku know she had a cat. Hopefully he's not allergic. On second thought, hopefully he is so he can leave.

Suitcase hoisted up to her bed, Sango unzips it and begins to unpack, dumping most of her clothes into her hamper. She sheds her blouse and pencil skirt, adorning some leggings and a dark pink t-shit. She bites her lip, staring at the door when she hears the three of them laughing.

She understands that Kagome wanted to move in with InuYasha, especially with him signing a new lease in a bigger place for them. She knows it won't be long before he proposes, and they start a family. She hears them whispering about it sometimes behind her door when it's late at night and they think she's asleep. She gets it, but she feels a pang in her heart knowing she won't see her best friend every day and will instead be waking up to a stranger.

He won't be a stranger for long, she thinks, and she pulls her hair up in a ponytail. This will be the new normal.

"Sango, hurry the hell up!"

"I'm coming!" she yells to InuYasha and steps out of her room. "You're so impatient."

The rest of the afternoon is spent moving all of Kagome's things to their moving truck and helping move Miroku's things out of his moving truck. Sango does her best to avoid him but catches him staring at her more than she would like. She also is aware of the warning glances InuYasha gives him. She's not sure what these silent communications mean, but it's making her nervous. She knows Kagome wouldn't let her live with anyone dangerous. She knows this, but when they finish and her friends leave, she runs to the comfort of her room and lies in bed, staring at the ceiling wondering how the next 273 days are going to be.

This story has been on my brain for the longest time. Chapters may be on the short side, but I've got 11 pages already written so hopefully updates will be faster than my other stories. I'm on a roll!

First time writing InuYasha fanfiction, and second time writing in present tense. I hope you all enjoy! :) Can't wait to hear what you all think!

-Skyelara