InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Haunted ❯ All Shapes... (and Sizes) ( Chapter 4 )

AN: I swear, I'm addicted now. I can't stop writing! Ahhhhhh..! However, I'll be gone over the weekend, so I won't be able to write.

 

On another note -an insignificant one, at that, so you don't have to read this if you want to hear something interesting. Because this isn't particularly interesting. Anyway… I've randomly decided to change my dividers into interchanging between delinquent snowmen and equally bizarre bunnies. Maybe I'll throw in some snowmen/ rabbit scenes, too! It depends on how absolutely weird I'm feeling at the moment. Because of this, I have named my bunnies: Harold and Mandy. Mandy has the black eyes and Harold has the white ones. For instance:

(\ / (\ /

(*.•) Here is Mandy (O.o) Here's Harold. He's a derelict rabbit.

_(><)_ _(><)_ (I stole him from my friend's profile and added

feet.)

The snowman is Antonio:

_|__|_

(*.*)

--( • )-- (He'll be around until later this spring, and then he'll probably melt,

(____) but I'll keep him in my freezer safe and sound for as long as I can.)

 

(I hope, that if your name is Harold, Antonio or Christie by any chance, that you are not offended. There is no offence meant. In fact, I think they're pretty neat-o…)

 

And I've decided to respond to some reviews I got (thank you!)

 

Yes, I've read Bottled Genius (and much besides it by rozefire! She's great!) and the plot will be quite different. I don't really have an exact plot -it comes while I write- but it won't end similarly, or have any other similarities hopefully. I actually got the urn thing from a book that I read, "The Bogart" by Susan Cooper. The Bogart likes to sleep in a vase in the library. As the story goes on, I (spoiler! Warning!) intend to make Inuyasha less dependent on the urn and become more alive again. I chose the middle of nowhere because it's close to a certain hill with a cave… heh… and because I think that Kagome would run away and be busy instead of being with Inuyasha for the summer (I mean, she doesn't like him in the beginning 'cause he's a big jerk to her), and I needed a reason for her to stay around. I noticed that it came out kinda similar, and I'm not trying to copy rozefire's greatness. I was slightly disappointed when I noticed that I was a failure in originality… (sheepish smile)

 

And thanks for the constructive criticism! I agree and I think that I could've had Kagome argue differently, and should've. Next time, I'll reread or somn' before I post and fix things. And yes, Sango's here. I just didn't think adding them at the same time (Sango and Miroku) would work out really well. So she's here this chapter! I'll probably end up putting other characters in as the story goes on… Anyway…

 

 

Disclaimer: He's not mine, she's not mine, they're not mine and neither are they. None of them are mine.

 

 

Haunted

 

Chapter Three: All Shapes… (and Sizes)

 

Things had been changing over the last few days, Kagome noted. It had been as if Inuyasha had woken up from a long sleep. And in a way, he had. Kagome had always been able to understand and relate to people and she could see that several lifetimes spent alone would definitely be enough to drain someone of their personality.

 

He'd become more lively, more belligerent, more outspoken. She grinned slightly as he growled at Shippo, threatening him uselessly as the kid tried to see how far he could push the irate poltergeist before he got really mad and left. Kagome shook her head wearily and picked Shippo up. "Why do you do that?" She asked him with a small smile. Inuyasha looked at her huffily at the treatment Shippo got. Every time he tried to annoy Shippo, Kagome always yelled at him. He didn't get it.

 

"I'm bored!" Shippo complained. After Souta had left the day before to visit some old friend in Tokyo, the bored kid had taken to perching on Miroku's shoulder as he went about his business and commenting on how boring it all was. Miroku had finally gotten sick of it and went into town. "When's Souta coming back?" He looked at Kagome with pleading green eyes.

 

"The Squirt's coming back in two weeks, Brat." Inuyasha had refused to call Shippo and Souta by their proper names. He preferred to give them degrading nicknames instead. He didn't dare give one to Kagome. She'd yell at him too much, but after careful thought he'd ended calling Miroku "monk" because of his staff and back round.

 

The three of them turned to look towards the front door as keys jingled on the other side. After a moment, it opened and Miroku stuck his very bruised face through the door. "Oh, Miroku!" Kagome exclaimed. "What happened to your face?" She rushed over while Inuyasha snorted derisively behind her, drifting towards the "monk" less eagerly. She shook her head and rushed to the kitchen for some ice.

 

"So, who'd you grope this time?" Inuyasha drawled lazily, floating towards the weary man with a smirk. Miroku heaved a weary sigh and wiped sweat off his battered brow. Inuyasha raised his eyebrows. "Don't tell me you ran all the way here." He stated incredulously.

 

"It was a matter of life and death." Miroku declared seriously. "And I wasn't groping anybody." He managed to look dignified despite his sweaty and bedraggled appearance. "I was merely expressing my appreciation on the female body through my actions." He wiped his hands on his pants and made his was to the couch. He collapsed onto it with an exhausted sigh.

 

"You should've been a lawyer, Miroku." Shippo exclaimed seriously. "You're so good with words." He scrambled onto the man's shoulder and tugged on his ear. "So what happened?" He whispered into his ear.

 

"One of the girls whom I… talked with," Miroku paused for thought, wondering how he could rephrase the incident. "She had someone else with her who was involved with her. I didn't see him." He admitted.

 

"And just after your other bruises faded." Kagome shook her head reprovingly. "You'll never catch anyone that way." She told him. "Going up to someone and asking them to 'bear your child' and giving their but a rub is only going to make people mad." She tucked a wayward strand of blue-black hair behind her ear and crossed the room to give him the ice pack.

 

"I'll take your word for it, miss Kagome." His violet eyes wandered from Kagome's face to her chest. Kagome noticed and placed an arm protectively over her, hitting him lightly on the head with a newspaper that had been sitting on the small table next to the couch.

 

"That's what I mean!" She told him angrily as a certain angry poltergeist placed himself in front of the girl.

 

"Watch it, monk." He snarled. Amber started to leak into his eyes just like whenever he experienced strong emotion.

 

When he and Kagome had a big fight several days ago over whether or not she was going back to Tokyo with Souta and her mother, the color and flooded out of his eyes and into his face. When the fight had escalated and they two of them had stormed out of the room, shouting and hollering insults at each other, the color had seeped down to his neck and hair, turning it a snowy bluish-white. It had gotten as far as his shoulders, staining the fabric of his haori bright red when Kagome turned around and stared. The strange incident had ended the vicious fight immediately when Kagome rushed him to a mirror to stare and neither of them had mentioned it since. That night Kagome had stated at that she decided that she didn't want to spend another six hours in the car with Souta, and that had been the end of that.

 

"And yet again I'm harassed by the jealous boyfriend." Miroku muttered, seemingly irritable. But there was a bright spark of mischief twinkling in his purple eyes that made him look eerily like Shippo. Said master of mischief cackled in a very evil way and he tugged on Miroku's ear, carefully avoiding the several gold hoops as he whispered.

 

This time the color leaked from the spluttering poltergeist's cheeks in a blush that rivaled Kagome's. "But I-" Inuyasha protested.

 

"What?" Kagome interrupted him. They turned to each other and brown eyes met grayish-gold for a moment before both turned away, blushing furiously. Kagome moved off the to hallway, muttering incoherently about bathrooms

 

Inuyasha, in the matter of poltergeists, vanished wordlessly into thin air, leaving behind a few wisps of grey smoke and the faint scent of rain. Miroku started in surprise and Shippo stared at the grey smoke. "Did… did he just… go poof?" Shippo waved his hands in the air vaguely and overbalanced, toppling off of Miroku's shoulder and onto the couch.

 

"I didn't know he could do that…" Miroku said mildly. He was a poltergeist, after all. And if he remembered his legends right, than those sorts had all sorts of tricks up their sleeves. He frowned. And they weren't able to change color…

 

(\ /

(*.•)

_(><)_

 

Several miles away, a girl in her late teens paid for her coffee and left a small café similar to the one Miroku had left about a week ago. Oddly enough, she was headed for the same place, too.

 

_|__|_

(*.*)

--( * )-- (For those of you who are wondering, the thing on his head is a top hat. Yup.)

(____)

 

 

Well, that was embarrassing, Kagome thought to herself as she lay on her bed as she often did when thinking deeply about something. She lay on her bed for a while, just thinking, Her mind wandered from Souta to her cat as she looked up at the white ceiling, but her mind was mostly on Inuyasha and Miroku. It was the kind of thing he'd say, she thought wryly. After meeting him a few days ago, she felt like she'd known him all her life. He was very predictable in his actions and comments. Inuyasha, on the other hand… She never really knew what he thought or felt unless he wanted her to, and then usually it wasn't something good. So how did he feel…? She cut off her train of thought abruptly and sat up. "I'm going for a walk." She announced to her empty room.

 

Kagome opened the door to her room and shut it softly behind her. She walked down the carpeted hallway and towards the living room, intent on leaving through the back door and go for a walk when she suddenly decided to change direction. She was going to take a look in the ballroom.

 

After her initial visit to the faded yet magnificent room, she hadn't been back. She turned down another hallway and down a flight of stairs. Kagome moved hesitantly towards the doors and rested her hand on the worn brass handle for a moment. Maybe she should go for a walk after all…

 

Kagome tucked her hair behind her ear and gave the door a gentle push. It creaked open with a weary sigh and dust motes flitted through the air. Kagome nervously tucked her hair behind her ear again and stepped inside. The air was still, the dust motes floating lazily and catching the rays of sunlight that came through the large windows on the opposite end of the room. It was so quiet, so peaceful.

 

Kagome took a slow breath and closed her eyes for a moment. Her gaze swept across the room a second time, taking everything in and frowned at the bookcases. The first time she'd been in the room she'd been too taken away by the splendor of the room to really notice the strangeness of them. Why would anyone want bookcases in a ballroom? Maybe some former owner had been converting the room into a library, but had to leave abruptly. Very abruptly, she noted as she looked at all the stuff that littered the floor. A hammer, a saw, lots of wood and sawdust.

 

Kagome gingerly picked up one of the boards, wary of splinters, and dragged it to one of the far corners of the room, the dust swirling in the air as she did so. She was going to clean the place up.

 

_|_|_

(*.*)

--( • )--

(____)

 

Kagome dusted her hands off on her skirt. "Well, that turned out nicely," She remarked. Her voice echoed in the large empty room and she stretched, back cracking as her hands stretched towards the distant ceiling. Placing her hands on her hips, she surveyed the room critically. She had moved all the wood and tools to one corner, leaving the faded wooden paneling bare. Kagome cast a reproving eye on the floor. Parts of it had kept its original color, where the wood and tools had lain for so long, protected from the sun. "Oh, well…"

 

"That's not a good sign." Kagome jumped, and there was Inuyasha, the dying sunlight filtering through him as he floated in front of the window.

 

"Huh?" She asked. She stood up from her position on the floor. "What do you mean?" She puzzled, tucking her hair behind her.

 

"Talking to yourself." He explained, shoving his hands in his wide sleeves. "It's a sign of craziness." He looked up from the floor and flashed her a fanged grin.

 

Shielding her eyes to look at him, Kagome replied absently, "It can't be too bad. I mean, lots of people talk to themselves, you know?"

 

"Huh." He replied. Inuyasha followed her into the darker part of the room. Kagome sat down, her back to an unfinished bookcase.

 

She looked up at him and patted the wood next to her. "Come sit down." She invited. He raised his eyebrows at her and she rephrased her invitation. "Come… float down." She tried with a rueful grin. He snorted.

 

They sat in silence for a while, just enjoying each other's company. The silence stretched between them, and Kagome took a deep breath and exhaled. The sun sank lower and the room grew darker. And still they sat, thinking. Kagome finally broke the silence, her voice echoing back in a lonely way. "It's so… peaceful…" She breathed, eyes closed. "Don't you think, Inuyasha?"

 

Inuyasha turned his head to look at the girl next to him. In fading golden light of the dying sun, golden dust motes drifted around her head. The sunlight clung to her long eyelashes and framed her profile. Her bluish-black hair was framed with the soft light, a small happy smile on playing gently on her lips. Her posture radiated contentment. "…Yeah…" His voice was soft, and his eyes matched the color of the sunset. With her eyes closed, she didn't notice how long he watched her as she drifted into a deep sleep, feeling content and safe.

 

And with him looking at her, he didn't know that his skin now matched hers, and his haori and pants were red.

 

(\ /)

(• .^)

_(> <)_

 

Today, she decided, is most definitely the worst day of my life. A number of unhappy memories stirred to life in her head, and she promptly changed her mind. Not the worst, she negotiated, but one of the worse ones. With her luck, the Higurashi residence would be unwilling to take her in, and she'd have walked about tem miles for nothing. Heaving a heavy sigh, she found Priestess Lane. She dragged her feet wearily down the narrow street, her worn backpack taking on more weight with every step. The sun had set, and she had only the lights of the houses she passed to see by.

 

She turned her head at the sound of a child's delighted laughter, so much like her younger brother's… She shook her head, dislodging two teardrops and the painful memories that came with her brother. But she wasn't crying because of that, really, Sango realized. She was exhausted. She'd walked ten miles with her few possessions on her back. She'd been nearly run over twice, had to go to the bathroom in the bushes, and had barely enough money to pay for a cup of coffee, all that she'd had to eat or drink for the day. Eight or nine people had asked her with false concern if she was all right. She snorted bitterly. They could care less. She brought her hand to her forehead to wipe off some of the grime accumulated by the long walk. And she really needed a shower…

 

All of it was weighing down on her. She didn't know how she'd get on if she was turned away. Running was not in Sango's nature, but that's precisely what she'd done. Of course, seeing something so traumatizing as all the blood, the way everything was smashed, and her little brother's face as he spoke for the last time, in barely a whisper… "Sango…" And he smiled. She never should've gone in.

 

After seeing the strange symbol in green spray paint on her door and the windows smashed, she should've known. But she had to check. And they weren't gone when she'd entered the house. She had shallow cuts all over, and a large stab in her upper arm and there was glass in her foot still. She'd fought back with everything she had. And she beat them up severely. It was what they deserved. After the first two were dead, the other four left her to collapse on the floor next to her brother and hug his body. It was stiffening slowly. It all rushed to her head at once and she stared at the formerly clean and orderly room. The walls were splattered with blood, and the carpet soaked with the stuff. It was drying. That's when Sango realized she no longer had any reason to stay.

 

So she dropped his cold dead body on the red carpet. She'd rushed out, tears brimming in her eyes, only her stubborn strength keeping her from collapsing then and there. One couldn't blame her, could they? Sango pressed her palms against her face. It was too much to bear. Not like this. She'd held it in for days, the rage, the pain. She should go back, and kill the other two. She should kill their whole wretched gang, and she probably could too. But she was so tired… And the way things were going now, it couldn't get any worse right? She managed a brief choking laugh that bubbled into quiet sobs. At the same time, it wasn't going to get any better… She knew better than that.

 

 

\) /

( •)

.( >)

 

Shippo heard the noise first. "Miroku, do you hear that?" He asked the purple-eyed man as he scrubbed dishes.

 

"I don't hear anything, Shippo." Miroku said with a tired sigh. True, he had agreed to help around the house in order to stay, but he didn't like getting stuck with dishes duty. He hated dishes. After dinner, Kagome went immediately up to her room without a word, looking slightly sleepy and complaining of a backache from sleeping against a bookshelf, which he found rather odd. Naturally, Inuyasha couldn't do them and he hadn't even come to dinner, and Shippo was too small. Mr. Higurashi had tottered off to look through the old scrolls left in the house some more- he'd been buried in them since the second day they'd moved in, and Buyo had refused.

 

"Don't you hear that?" Shippo squirmed agitatedly on Miroku's shoulder. "It's so sad." His green eyes stared into Miroku's purple ones pleadingly. "Make it go away, please make it go away," He babbled, emerald eyes darting to and fro. His small hands dug into Miroku's shirt.

 

Seeing how jittery the kid was, Miroku wearily put down the soapy pan and rinsed off his hands. "Where is it?" He asked. There was probably nothing there. Shippo pointed a small finger waveringly in the direction of the sidewalk.

 

"There," he whispered, now clinging so tightly to Miroku's shirt that in almost hurt. "Do you think it's a ghost? It sounds so sad, like the Mu'onna, the Nothing Woman, who wanders around looking for her lost children…" Shippo shuddered.

 

"That' just a myth." Miroku said firmly, then frowned. He did hear something, but it was so soft that he was surprised that Shippo had heard it from the kitchen with the tap on. He looked at the kid with new respect. "You have remarkable hearing, Shippo." He informed the quaking child.

 

"Just make it stop!" Shippo whispered frantically. He scuttled around to the back of Miroku's shirt. He winced as the small hands clung to his skin and he pulled the small child off and held him in the crook of one arm.

 

"Hello?" Miroku opened the door and looked out into the dark of night. "Anyone there?" He heard a sniff from the sidewalk to the side of the house, and he looked out into the night. "Hello?" He tried again. "See, Shippo? He looked at the child in his arms. "There's no one there. But I could've sworn…" He peered into the night again.

 

A quiet sniff came from the darkness again and Shippo eyes widened. He scrambled out of Miroku's hold and towards the sound, the gravel of the walk pattering under his small feet. "Are you okay?" He asked with the sincere concern and compassion hat only children seem capable of.

 

A quiet voice sighed wearily. "I'll live." The words were bitter, forced. Miroku walked down the path as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. The voice was definitely feminine…

 

Miroku came upon a young woman roughly his age, the weariness surrounding her aging her beyond her years. She sat on the ground, her back against the wooden fence Wordlessly, Miroku offered her his hand with a smile. With a grateful and embarrassed smile, the grimy -but very attractive- young woman rose to her feet. "Ugh." She shook her head. "I'm a mess."

 

With the light from the house revealing her state, Miroku realized with shock that it was very much the truth. There was dried blood on her shirt and hands and the knees of her worn pants. Her long brown hair was tangled and magenta eyeliner was smeared. Her eyes were slightly puffy, but she presented herself with dignity. She subconsciously hefted her backpack on her back and cleared her throat. "Is this the Higurashi residence?" She asked bluntly, choosing to ignore the way that both child and adult stared blatantly at her appearance.

 

"Oh, of course." Miroku hurried up the walk, the exhausted girl trailing behind. "I'll go get a room set up." He offered over his shoulder as he raced up the stairs for the closet. Shippo trotted ahead and turned to give her an encouraging toothy smile. Sango smiled in spite of herself.

 

The smile disappeared off her face as soon as the kid turned around. Thank gods he hadn't asked about her appearance or tried to chat, Sango though wearily. She just wanted to sleep. She could face the rest of them tomorrow. She entered the house and made her way slowly up the stairs, forgetting to close the door behind her.

 

The little kid was waiting for her at the top. Mindlessly she followed him as he led her into an empty room where the dark-haired man- she hadn't even asked his name, she thought with grim humor- struggled with the sheets. He flashed Sango a charming smile. "I'll have this ready in a moment…" He tossed them over the bed haphazardly, but Sango could care less. She just needed to sleep. Then a shower, then food… She couldn't think beyond that. The man left the room and Sango collapsed on the bed, immediately asleep.

 

(\ /)

( ) (Rabbit butt! Heh heh.)

_( . )_

 

Inuyasha frowned. Blood. It was old, probably dry by now, but it alarmed him very much. It was coming from the house. He sniffed again. It wasn't Kagome's, Maybe Miroku or Shippo? He moved towards the house from the woods faster, concern turning his eyes amber. The calmer part of his mind reminded him that the smell was old, the blood long dried, but he didn't care. He swooped through the outer walls and followed the scent. It wasn't coming from Kagome's room- where Shippo slept now that Souta and Mrs. Higurashi were in Tokyo- and Miroku's room was in the other direction. Curiosity overcame concern and he followed the scent. Then he recognized that it was two different scents, one female, the other male. He slowly drifted through the door, afraid of what he'd find. Kagome? It wasn't her blood scent, but the two scents were so mixed. He didn't realize that his hands were shaking or that color was sweeping down his neck towards his chest with concern. He knew he shouldn't have left her all alone in that room… Taking a deep breath, he stuck his head through the door, afraid of what he'd find.

 

It wasn't Kagome. It was someone else, older. The blood on her was definitely old, and she was breathing. She was alive, and not likely to die very soon. He drifted closer, curious. So they'd taken in another stray, had they? He shook his head. That was no way to earn money. Suddenly the figure sprang into life, leaping of the bed in an athletic feat that surprised Inuyasha greatly. She grabbed the pack and swung it at him, hard. If he'd been of flesh and blood, he'd probably be knocked out of the floor right now, he thought with amusement. So there were some good in being a poltergeist.

 

The girl gaped at him. "What-?" She tried again, punching at his face. Inuyasha didn't move. He didn't have to. He floated higher in the air and stuffed his arms in his sleeves, impatiently waiting for her to get it. "I'm sorry, Kohaku!" The girl's voice was raspy. "I will avenge you! I'll kill all of those filthy bastards-"

 

"I think you've got the wrong ghost." Inuyasha said flatly. "I'm Inuyasha. And I don't need avenging." He told her with a snort. "I can avenge myself, thanks."

 

The bloody girl stared at him. "What are you doing here, then?" She asked quite calmly, sitting down heavily on the bed, rubbing her eyes in exhaustion. "I need to sleep…" Her head tilted towards her chest and she yawned.

 

"I live here," he retorted. "Now, what are you doing here?" He asked. She was falling asleep as she answered, falling back against the bed.

 

"I'm sleeping…" And she was, landing against the bed softly, asleep even before her head hit the pillow. Inuyasha shook his head, leaving the girl to her rest. It was night, after all. Everyone was asleep…

 

He could still smell the blood. It made him uneasy, and he wandered about the grounds uneasily. Hell, why didn't he just go a little farther this time? He'd never left the property, actually. He'd never had any reason to. Purposefully, he moved out of the shed and towards the house. He was just going to check to make sure everything was okay before he left, and then he'd be off, he decided. The incident with the other girl had gotten him all concerned about the residents in the house… He popped his head in Miroku's room briefly. Still breathing. The old man's room. Definitely still breathing. He could hear it from the hallway. The senior snored like a vacuum cleaner. Last, but certainly not least was Kagome's room. He drifted through the wall to watch the sleeping girl. But only to make sure she's okay, he told himself. But he knew she was okay when he'd stuck his head in. He floated cross-legged next to the bed, taking in the way her eyelids fluttered in sleep, her hair messily fanned out around her head. Shippo gave a little snort and curled up into a smaller ball next to her head. A pair of glowing green, slit-pupiled eyes blinked at him from the end of the bed. He tensed, but it was only Buyo. "Everybody sleeps here, don't they?" He murmured. Naturally, the cat didn't reply.

 

"Inuyasha…" He turned to look at the sleeping girl again, startled and slightly embarrassed to be caught in her room in the middle of the night. But he wasn't caught. She was sleeping. He breathed a sigh of relief.

 

"Inuyasha…" She murmured again. He stared at her intently, willing her to inadvertently explain her dream to him. "Don't…" He leaned closer to catch every word. "We love Shippo. Don't kill 'im." The poltergeist huffed. It was always about Shippo, wasn't it? Tossing one fleeting glance over his shoulder, he moved through the window and off the property for the first time in five hundred years.

 

The air grew heavier, more oppressive as he moved farther from the house. He was sinking towards the ground. Struggling to rise into the air again before he disappeared into the ground, he desperately tried to will himself to go higher, like he normally did. But it was so tiring. He started to sink helplessly towards the ground. Hell, he'd probably sink through it and end up stuck in the ground.

 

He struggled feebly. It felt as if a giant hand was pressing down on him, trying to squeeze him into oblivion. He turned around, trying desperately to get back on the property. Inuyasha dragged himself back to the property boundary. Heaving a sigh of relief, he tried to put his head in his hands. He stared at them. His hands… the were all faded, more so then normal. Inuyasha reminded himself never to cross that property line again.

 

_|__|_

(•.•)

--( • )—

(____)

 

Sango woke to find the same man from last night enter her room with a large box labeled "First Aid". She sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes. "I'll do it myself, thanks." She said politely. No way she was having a complete stranger clean her up.

 

"Oh, I insist." He smiled charmingly. "Oh, I'm Miroku, by the way." He added, hastily putting the big white box on the beige carpet and offering a hand.

 

Sango took it warily and used it to get up out of bed. He seemed charming… too charming. "I'd rather do it myself." She said. "I'm Sango. Akutagawa Sango." She let go of his hand, but he seemed to be unwilling to let go himself. After a few awkward moments debating her plan of action as the overly-charming Miroku kept hold of her hand, she said firmly, "Let go."

 

"Hmm?" Miroku tried to stall, giving her hand a squeeze. Sango twisted her hand out of his grasp. And stepped back.

 

"Never mind." She waited patiently for him to realize that he wasn't wanted anymore. "Ahem." He smiled and bowed before leaving the room. Sango snorted. "What a flirt…" She started to lift her shirt, then turned sharply. "And close that door!"

 

Wordlessly, the door closed tightly. Sango stepped deliberately towards it and locked it with a click. He was definitely more than a flirt. He was a completely perverted flirt. She inspected the cuts in the mirror and decided to wash them out before bandaging them. She turned to inspect the room. "Where are the towels…?" She asked the room.

 

She jumped, startled when the answer came through the door. "They're in the closet. I'll go get you one." Ugh.

 

"What will it take before you leave me alone?" She asked. He didn't answer, probably because he was getting her a towel. She suddenly snapped her fingers.

 

"If he does anything to that towel…" She growled out, gingerly straightening her shirt and picking up the kit and her backpack. She unlocked and opened the door, wondering where the bathroom was.

 

"Hello!" The ginger-haired kid from last night popped out from the hallway and sat near her feet. "What happened to you?" He asked, bright green eyes boring into her weary and sorrowful brown ones.

 

"A lot of stuff happened…" Miroku was forgotten for the moment as she remembered. She turned abruptly to look down the hallway. "Can you tell me where the bathroom is?" She looked at the kid again.

 

"Sure!" The small child bounced eagerly. "Follow me!" He led her down the hallway at a trot that Sango easily kept up. "What's your name?" He looked back at her as he skipped down the hallway, nearly bumping into a large fat cat.

 

"Kirara!" Sango suddenly stopped. She'd left her cat… If they hadn't killed her too… Sango followed the kid again.

 

"Kirara?" The boy asked. "I'm Shippo." He stopped as abruptly as Sango had a few moments ago and stuck out a small hand.

 

"Oh, no, I'm Sango." She corrected and leaned down slowly to shake Shippo's hand. "Kirara's my cat." Was my cat…

 

"That one's Buyo." Shippo pointed over his shoulder at the obese feline lying in the hallway. "He's really stupid and fat." The small boy informed her sincerely. "He only moves if you annoy him or if he wants food."

 

"Sango?!" Miroku's call rang from the other side of the house. "Where are you? The bathroom's over here!" His voice echoed distantly.

 

"Shippo?" Sango asked incredulously. The ginger-haired child twiddled his thumbs nervously. "Where am I going?"

 

"Umm…" Shippo hummed. "to the bathroom…" He trailed off as Miroku's voice rang out again, this time to penalize Shippo.

 

"Shippo! Bring her back!" Who to trust? A guilty-looking kid, or a perverted flirt of a lecher? This was going to be tough…

 

"Shippo," Sango said wearily. "Where are you really taking me?" Shippo brought himself to his full height.

 

"To the bathroom!" He replied indignantly. "I told you twice already!" Miroku crashed down a flight of stairs to appear in front of the pair. He picked up Shippo and held the kid up by one foot.

 

"Shippo…" He said sternly. "Where were you taking her? Tell the truth." Miroku swung the child right side up and stared at him accusingly.

 

"The bathroom…" He fidgeted and avoided Miroku's gaze. He continued to stare, and Shippo burst out, "The bathroom! The long way!"

 

Miroku sighed and shook his head, dropping Shippo in an undignified heap on the ground. He looked at Sango. "Don't trust Shippo. Ever."

 

"Hey!" Said child squealed in defense. "I'm trustworthy! I'm more trustworthy that you!" Miroku looked at him again.

 

"I doubt that." He replied and nodded to Sango to follow him. "The bathrooms with are all on the second floor." He told her as they scaled the stairwell. "The one on the first floor is smaller." He turned to look at her and indicated for her to go first. Sango shook her head and he shrugged, continuing down the hallway.

 

"Here we are…" He opened the door and Sango dropped the first aid kit and her backpack on the tiled floor. Again she waited for him to leave after a few moments, then pushed him out and slammed the door in his face.

 

With a disappointed sigh, the lecherous man moved away from the door and started to move down the hallway. "Problems?" A familiar voice cackled overhead. Miroku looked up to find a frazzled poltergeist above him.

 

"What happened to you?" He asked curiously and evaded the question. "It looks like you got caught in a wind storm." Inuyasha snorted.

 

"None of your business, monk." He replied and floated through the ceiling. Perverted thoughts drifted through Miroku's mind and he grinned. "And it's not what you think!" A muffled and irate comment drifted through the ceiling from where the poltergeist had gone.

 

After staring at the ceiling for a moment, Miroku ventured a question. "So what's up there, anyway?" A rude snort was all he got for a reply.

 

(\ /

(• -•)

_(><)_

 

Although the shower was slightly painful, Sango felt much better after taking it. Now only did she fell cleaner physically, she almost felt as if she had more control over her life and her emotions. Certainly she was still mad. She was furious and still in pain. But the pain had lessened from an outright agony to a dull steady ache, and the burning and passionate anger had steadied to a calm patient fury. With clean clothes and rest, she felt more confident.

 

In short, Akutagawa Sango was feeling more like her old self and less like the poor bedraggled person she'd been only half an hour ago. She toweled her long brownish-black hair one more time and brushed it. She tucked the fluffy white towel under her arm and picked up the backpack and first aid kit, it's supplies now significantly diminished. She unlocked the bathroom door and left it, a completely different person.

 

Now that she was herself in a relative way again, Sango left the bathroom slightly uneasy. For all his relative kindness- and perverted lecherousness- Miroku was not a member of the Higurashis she'd been seeking out. She'd probably gotten the wrong family, but maybe they'd let her stay. She shrugged to herself and decided to worry about it later. She continued down the hall, looking one was then another for any sign of a landmark in the giant house. Because of her strange way of getting to the bathroom, she had no way to find her room. "Hello?" She called out, feeling slightly weird about asking directions to a room inside a house. "Anyone there?" She tried again. The house must be a little bigger than she first thought…

 

"Hello?" A voice called out cautiously. It wasn't Miroku, and Sango wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. "Hello?" The feminine voice asked again, just as Sango had. "You aren't playing tricks again, are you Inuyasha?" This time the voice was slightly reprimanding. "It's kinda early in the morning for that- oh my god!" Sango hurried towards the voice. "Ten already?!"

 

A dark-haired and sleep-rumpled girl stood in the doorway of her room, staring with bleary brown eyes at her watch. Sango waved cautiously. Definitely the wrong Higurashis, unless she was a houseguest. "Hi." Sango waved at the girl. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and blinked a bit more. "I'm Sango."

 

"Oh, hello." The girl replied. "I'm… umm…" She put a hand over her face. "Gods…" It came out muffled. "I forgot my name!" She laughed. After a moment, she said abruptly, "Kagome. I'm Kagome." Kagome shook her head. "Wow…"

 

Sango grinned slightly at the confused girl who lifted her hand from her face and addressed Sango. "Are you another houseguest? You must've arrived last night then. My mom's gone right now, but I'm sure you could stay until then to arrange something." Kagome said vaguely. She wandered back into her room to get dressed.

 

"Wait!" Sango remembered her original problem. "Where is everything?" She asked and shrugged helplessly.

 

Kagome looked down the hall and gestured as she spoke. "Just keep going down the hall until you reach the stairs." Sango nodded. "Then, don't go down them. Turn left and when you reach the other stairs go down those and you'll be in the living room. From there, you should hear people eating. Or cleaning up, seeing as how it's ten already…" Kagome grumbled the last bit to herself as she closed the door behind her.

 

(\ /

(O.o)

_(>*<)_

 

Upon arriving at the kitchen with few mistakes- Kagome's directions, although given rather quickly, proved very helpful- Sango discovered that Kagome had been right. Miroku was washing the dishes and grumbling about it as Shippo sat on his shoulder and tugged on his ear. "…me who gets stuck doing the dishes? Mr. Higurashi never does anything except eat and complain about my cooking and then tells me to clean up the mess I made. It can't be that bad if he eats it. All the old man ever does is sit in his room." Shippo started to tug frantically on the man's ear. "Ow! Shippo, what are you-" Shippo grabbed his nose and Miroku flinched as he turned his head quite forcefully to look at Sango. "Oh, hello!" His entire demeanor changed as he turned on the charm. "You're looking quite healthy today, Sango." His eyes roved over her clean and better-attired form.

 

Just as Kagome had, Sango placed on arm protectively over her chest and whacked him over the head with the first aid kit, which she was still carrying. As his purple eyes came back into focus, Sango asked him, "Where's my room and where does the first aid kit go?"

 

Miroku's eyes reluctantly focused on her face instead of her chest. "Would you like some breakfast first?" Sango suddenly noticed the strong ache in her stomach. She put the first aid kit and her worn backpack on the ground next to the nearest chair.

 

"That would be wonderful." She said gratefully. In response, Miroku merely grinned and tried to keep his eyes on her face. Miraculously, he succeeded.

 

Shippo scrambled off of Miroku's shoulder and hopped onto the table. "So what happened? How long are you staying?" As he turned to get some food from the refrigerator, he noticed the subtle changes in Sango's posture and attitude. Her eyes, once warm and calm shifted away to look at her bloodstained pack. They were now cold and angry, with loss and anguish hidden deeply in them Miroku could tell because that expression used to grace his own features. Sango tensed and her eyes rested on Shippo. Shippo stared back, confused. What had he done?

 

"My family was murdered." She spat. "I left." There. She'd said it. Now the kid would leave, and there'd be an awkward pause between her and Miroku until he tried to be sympathetic. And she'd see right through it, the sympathetic eyes and the pat on the back. The murmured regrets for some people they never knew.

 

But that's not what happened. Shippo's eyes became sorrowful as he looked into hers. "My Pa died. So did my Ma." He told her. "I was really, really sad for a long time," He explained. "and I still miss them." Miroku's eyebrows rose. It just goes to show, you learn something new every day.

 

Miroku pulled out a plate and set it on the counter with a small clinking sound. Two pairs of eyes turned to him, and he shrugged. If they were expecting him to reveal all the sorrows of his life, they were sadly mistaken. He turned back to the task at hand, and Sango eyes rested on him a little, calculating.

 

_|___|_

(• . •) (Someone's getting' a little chubby…)

--( • )--

(______)

 

Kagome clattered down the stairs, followed more sedately by a certain obese feline. "Hi!" She greeted the silent table. All of them looked up at her, and Kagome suddenly felt very out of place in her own home. There was a pause, and then Shippo launched himself at her.

 

"Hi, Kagome!" He greeted cheerfully. "You're just in time for the second breakfast." He grinned at the confusion that crossed the girls face. She then looked at Miroku, who shrugged from his position over the stove as he prepared one of his "concoctions". Sango did the same.

 

Kagome patted the ginger-haired boy on the head and took a seat at the table. "Good morning." She greeted Sango. Shippo pulled on her hair gently, and she turned her head to look at him. "Good morning, Shippo." She told him solemnly. The kid grinned.

 

"Food's done." Miroku announced. Sango got up, plate in hand. One of Miroku's hands found its way to her rear, and Sango put the plate down to hit him on the head with the first thing that came to hand- in this case, a pan on the dish rack. Miroku reeled away with unfocused eyes. "Enjoy your meal…" He sat down on the chair next to Kagome, who shook her head at Miroku's antics.

 

"He never learns…" Kagome told Sango. "He always ends up getting slapped or attacked by a boyfriend. We can't go out into town anymore with him!" Sango sat down, only to leap up again when she felt Miroku's hand on the seat. She hefted the frying pan again, and swung. It was the beginning of a long and painful- on Miroku's part- relationship.

 

 

AN: Okay, I lied. I didn't look this over before posting. I'm sorry! I hope it's okay, though. Thanks for reading!