InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Phony Digits ❯ To The Naked Eye ( Chapter 9 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: StoatsandWeasels
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 03.30.2016 | Pages: 21 | Words: 7.5K | Visits: 379 | Status: Work In Progress

Disclaimer: InuYasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I have nothing.

Chapter Nine: To The Naked Eye

*Ding*

Sango heard her text tone chime as she sat in her cruiser, waiting for the traffic light to change. She retrieved the phone from her belt clip and read the message. She already knew what it would say, and who it was from.

'Monroe's 12:30.'

Miroku had been sending her similar, and nine times out of ten identical, messages every morning since that first contact over a week ago. A location, and time to meet him for lunch. So far, she had not only refused his invitation, she had refused to give him any sort of response at all. This did not seem to discourage him in the least.

"Yo, Renji."

"Hmm?" he acknowledged from his place beside her in the passenger seat.

"How doe's Monroe's sound for lunch today?" she asked him.

He shrugged. "Fine by me."

She would be doing some detective work of her own. She knew exactly what Miroku looked like, while he had never seen her face. She would use this to her advantage.

<<>>

When Sango and Kouga arrived at the diner, Sango parked the car on the street a few blocks away.

Kouga looked around bewilderedly. "We doing a stake out or something? I thought we were eating lunch."

"We are eating lunch Renji, I'm just...kinda doing my own little personal stake out..." she said as she turned around and grabbed her fleece vest from the back seat. She slipped the vest on over her shoulder holster, zipping it halfway. "Can you see my gun?" she asked her partner, turning side to side.

"No…"

"Good, okay, I'm going to go in first, and you wait three minutes and come in after me. Get your own table and pretend like you don't know me, okay?"

Kouga looked at her as if she had grown a third head. "It's not anything illegal, is it? I really can't afford to lose this job." he said.

"No stupid, it's just...there's this guy...remember the guy that texted me in the autopsy lab a while back?"

Kouga nodded.


"Well...I'm gonna spy on him." she said matter-of-factly.

"So why can't we eat together then? It's not like he knows who I am…"

"Because, if I go in alone I'll be more approachable."

"Ah. Gotcha." Kouga said, sending her an affirmative nod as she exited the vehicle.

When Sango entered the diner her eyes scanned the room, quickly finding the man she was looking for sitting in a booth by himself. She made her way up to the nineteen-fifties style chrome bar in the center of the room and took the open stool nearest to him. She watched as he unashamedly flirted with the young hostess, then the middle-aged waitress, then the two women who just so happened to be sitting at the table to his left, followed by the woman facing him in the adjacent booth... Oh boy…

She figured if she shot enough looks his way she would eventually get his attention, seeing as how every other woman in the room seemed to have caught his attention quite effortlessly. After a couple minutes of hair twirling and subtle peeking from under her bangs, Sango noticed Miroku slide from his booth and head in her direction, bringing his tea along with him. He sat on the stool next to her, tapping his fingers in an indistinct rhythm while scanning the room in a failed attempt to appear nonchalant.

"So...haven't seen you here before." he said casually. "And I'd never forget such a beautiful face."

Sango arched an eyebrow as she turned to look at him. "Is that so?"

"Certainly. You would have never made it under my radar." he said with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes. "How charming…" she said facetiously. "I'm flattered and all, but I'm not sure I want to take a back seat to Ethel over there." she said, nodding in the direction of the matronly waitress that Miroku had previously been flirting with.

"You misunderstand. I'm not interested in those women, I just love seeing their faces light up."

"Oh, I see, so you are just a perfect gentleman, on a mission to bring joy to the hearts of women of all ages? How noble..." she said sarcastically.

He smiled, unfazed by her attitude. "I'm Miroku." he introduced himself, extending his right hand towards her.

"Sango." she said as he accepted his handshake and returned it firmly. When she took hold of his hand she couldn't help but notice how calloused it was. It was almost like touching concrete. It was a feeling that was familiar to her. "You're a brick mason." she said matter-of-factly.

Miroku's eyebrows shot up and Sango knew she had hit the nail on the head. "Well, technically I'm a contractor, but yes. I've been laying brick with my father since I was old enough to lift them. How on earth did you know that?"

"Your hands." she said, grabbing his hand and turning it palm side up to expose the thick, grey, mortar stained callouses. "My father was a brick mason too."

"Huh..." Miroku said. "What are the chances?" he added with a cocky grin. "It seems that it was our destiny to meet."

Sango rolled her eyes. "Our destiny?" she said dryly.

"Why, yes," he said, taking her hand and running his rough thumbs along her palm. "don't tell me you don't believe in fate?"

"Well sure, maybe, but I certainly don't believe that just because you have the same job as my dad that we were destined to meet."

"Perhaps not," Miroku said. "but it will certainly be a cute story to tell our grandchildren one day."

Sango snorted and pulled her hand away from his, but otherwise ignored his bold comment. "So, you meeting someone here?" she asked leadingly.

His eyes shot toward the clock. It was just a couple minutes shy of one o'clock. "No." he said simply.

Sango nodded and picked up the menu. "What's good here?" she asked.

"Everything...but order the cheeseburger and you'll be coming back here for lunch everyday...like I do." he grinned.

"You eat cheeseburgers for lunch every day?" she asked.

"Almost every day." he nodded.

"Wow." she said, looking him up and down. "You must be very blessed in the metabolism department."

"That isn't the only department I'm blessed in." he said cheekily.

"Oh my god…" Sango said rolling her eyes. She had set herself up for that one...

"Umm...do you know that guy?" Miroku said, looking over Sango's shoulder and nodding in Kouga's direction. "because he keeps staring at us..."

Sango shot a stern look over her shoulder at Kouga, who was peeping at them over a newspaper in the most conspicuous way possible. "Never seen the clown before in my life. Probably just some creeper who doesn't know how to keep his eyeballs to himself!" she said loudly and pointedly.

Kouga slowly lifted the newspaper higher to cover his eyes and Sango turned back to Miroku.

"So, you say you're a contractor. You stay pretty busy?" Sango asked, changing the topic of conversation to small talk.

"Lately I've been more busy than ever. My biggest competition just up and disappeared off the face of the earth. Rumor has it that his wife was messing around with someone behind his back, and get this, his supposed love rival turned up dead in the back of a pickup truck, under a bridge in Sunset Park. Then, according to his wife, he just suddenly decides to take an extended vacation…" Miroku raised his brows. "Pretty fishy, huh?"

"Yeah…" Sango said. "Fishy." What the hell…? How is it possible that this gossipy brick mason knows more about my own case than I do…?

"What was the dead guy's name?" she asked him, trying to confirm her suspicions that the case he was referring to was, in fact, the screwdriver murder. Sounds like she was probably going to owe Renji that fifty bucks...

"I don't really remember...I think it was Tim or Tom or something like that."

It was Tam. It was an easy name for her to remember because it was such a strange name for a man. This was definitely her case...

"And what's the name of the suspect? I mean, your competitor? The guy that flew the coop." she asked.

"His name is G.H. Reyes."

"G.H. Reyes…" Sango repeated. "yeah... I've seen his signs around construction sites. Don't you think you ought to report this information to the police?" she asked him. Of course, he was technically reporting it to the police right now, but he didn't know that, and she didn't want to blow her cover in order to take his statement 'on the record'. "

"I'm not sure...I mean, it's all second hand information. Could that even be considered credible evidence?" he said.

"Yes, definitely. You really should give this information to the police."

"I actually have a...an acquaintance who is a homicide detective." he said, obviously referring to her.

"Yes, you should definitely tell her...him!" she corrected. "You should tell him." she repeated, trying to cover her slip up. Immediately she regretted it, as the correction sounded even more suspicious than the slip up itself. If it had been just about any other occupation she wouldn't be worried, but since law enforcement was so heavily male dominated, her little assumption might just give her away.

Miroku narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously.

Oh shit...

"Yes...you know what, I think you're right. I should call him right now." he said slowly as he slipped his phone from his pocket.

Sango began to panic. Turning her phone on silent now would be just as obvious as letting it ring. What to do! What to do!

He was dialing now. She was out of time.

In a frenzy, Sango pulled her phone from it's holster. "Whoops!" she said as she pretended to fumble her phone with both hands and drop it directly into her glass of water with a plop. "Aww...would you look at that?!" She shrugged theatrically. "Guess I'm gonna have to get a new…"

She was cut off by a loud buzzing. The sound of plastic and glass and ice rattling together violently. The way the glass and water magnified the bright display seemed to mock her. MIROKU, it clearly read, just before the screen flashed to black and the buzzing began to weaken.

*BZZZZT BZZZZT BZzzt bzzzzzz……* With it's last bit of life, it had made a fool of her.

She couldn't bring herself to look at him, but she didn't really need to. Her mind's eye could already see the face he was making. There was a picture of it on the damn phone that had just humiliated her. A cocky smirk.

"So...I take it you do know the creeper then." Miroku said.

Sango let out a loud sigh as she fished her ruined phone from her coffee, still refusing to make eye contact. "Yes."

"Is he your boyfriend?" he asked.

At this point Sango was seriously considering just saying 'yes', thus saving herself the embarrassment of trying to salvage this new...friendship? Relationship? Whatever it was, but for some reason she didn't want to close the door on it just yet...there was something about this guy. He was interesting. Not the type of guy you meet everyday. Before she could answer, the waitress interrupted them.

"Are you two ready to order?" she asked.

"Yes," Miroku piped up. "I'll have my usual, I my lovely friend here will have another helping of egg on her face."

Sango shot him a hard look. "Hey!" She looked back to the waitress. "Don't listen to him." She said. "I'll have a cheeseburger, no lettuce, no ketchup."

"French fries?" The waitress asked.

"Uhh…yeah, why not."

"Alright, two cheeseburgers, no ketchup, no lettuce and two orders of french fries. It'll be out in a few minutes." she said as she retrieved their menus and turned away.

"You told her to say that." Sango accused.

"I assure you, Sango, I did not. I come here at least three times a week and place the same order every time. Ask any one of the wait staff here and they will confirm my story."

Sango had no retort. First the brick mason thing, then they screwdriver case, and now identical lunch orders? It was almost a little creepy... Maybe I should have him pick some lottery numbers or read my palm or something... She chuckled to herself.

"Care to enlighten me?" he said at the notice of her quiet laughter.

She shook her head. "It's nothing."

Miroku nodded. "So, you never answered my question."

Sango furrowed her brow in confusion.

"The creeper." he said, nodding toward Kouga.

"Oh!" Sango said, "Right, no, he's my partner."

"I see." Miroku said. "Do you think he would like to join us?"

"No." she shook her head. "We spend too much time together as it is. I'm enjoying a little break from him, to be honest."

Miroku nodded. "That's understandable. My roommate sleeps on the roof sometimes because he says I drive him crazy."

Sango snorted. "I think that says more about you than it says about him." she teased.

"No, I'm the agreeable one, I assure you."

The waitress delivered their food, and they continued to make small talk for several minutes as they ate.

"So let me ask you something," Sango said, turning the conversation more personal. "InuYasha...what kind of guy is he?"

"He's a good guy. A good guy with a piss-poor attitude." he said candidly.

Sango chuckled.

"But in all seriousness, he really is a great guy. I'll admit he doesn't give off the best first impression, but he has a good heart."

Sango nodded. "Well, that's good to hear, because my friend that's been talking to him is seriously considering meeting him."

"Really?!" Miroku said excitedly. "InuYasha hasn't told me anything about it. He's a pretty reserved person."

"Well, don't say anything to him about it then, but yeah. He asked her to meet him, and I'm pretty sure she's going to say yes... Just between you and me, she's already sort of got a crush on him."

"Hmm...very interesting…" Miroku said, absolutely enthralled in the conversation.

Sango narrowed her eyes at him. "You're a little bit of a gossip whore, aren't you?"

"Me? A gossip whore?" he said in mock-offense, pressing a hand to his chest. "I'm only concerned with the welfare and happiness of my friends, Sango." he defended. "...and speaking of friends…" Miroku nodded towards Kouga, who was standing from his chair and putting on his jacket.

Sango turned to look at him, then at her watch. "Well, I guess that's my cue." she said as she slid from the barstool. "This was...interesting." she said as she pulled some folded cash from her pocket and started to place it on the counter.

"Very interesting indeed." Miroku said as he pushed her hand away. "And lunch is on me. We should do it again sometime."

Sango smirked. "Thanks" she said as she slipped the money back into her pocket. "I'd say I'll call you but…" She lifted her phone in front of her. "Phone's trashed...so…" she shrugged.

"That is a pity." Miroku said.

"Well, see you around." Sango said as she turned to leave. "Oh," she turned back to him. "And come down to the ninetieth precinct some afternoon and give a statement on the Reyes case. Ask for Sango Miyahara or Kouga Renji."

"Sango Miyahara." Miroku repeated quietly. "Will do." he said with a grin.

Sango headed out the door. "And do it soon!" she called out over her shoulder just as she slipped out the door.

<<>>

*Click*

InuYasha took yet another picture of himself in the bathroom mirror. He shook his head as he promptly deleted the image on the screen. I just look like I'm fucking trying too hard...

The truth of the matter was, that he really was trying too hard. The fact that he'd removed his shirt and done about five hundred pushups and crunches before taking the photos was proof of that.

It had been exactly one week since he asked Kagome to meet him in person. She had continued to text him nearly every day, but hadn't once mentioned the proposition to meet. He was seriously considering sending her a picture of himself, just in case her reluctance to meet him stemmed from the fear that he might look like Godzilla or something...

He laid his phone on the bathroom vanity and proceeded to redress himself. Just as he was pulling his shirt over his head his ears perked up at the sound of his phone vibrating against the countertop.

He quickly snatched up his phone (which was a habit he had picked up quite recently) and opened the message. A smile spread across his face.

It was from Kagome.

It was two simple letters.

'OK.'

<<>>

A/N: So, that last scene was inspired by some artwork done by Grapefruit Wannabe. We dreamed of selfies, and she gave them life.

Anyway, I don't mean to sound bossy, but go look at them now.

grapefruitwannabe*tumblr*com/post/141388974633

Replace the *'s with dots. That should do it.

Also, don't think too much about the improbability of all of them being Japanese, or in conveniently close proximity to each other, or that they all seem know the names and locations of all the same places. This is a fantasy AU, and logic has no place here. Lol. (I actually tried to make it logical, but logic is boring and I hated it, so there.)

Have a glorious day,

SW