Sango stomped into the house just after 10:30, and Brock looked back at her from the television as she entered the foyer. "How did---whoa you don't look to happy."
"Oh, Mr. Harrison. It was terrible." She said, hugging him and sobbing uncontrollably. "Miroku showed up with some…whore…that works at the preschool. I want to pull my children out of the school. I don't want them near her and then--" Another eruption of sobs interrupted her rant and Sakura walked in from the kitchen.
"Oh, Sango, dear. Don't let Miroku upset you like that."
"It wasn't just Miroku." Sango informed her, pulling away from Brock and wiping her eyes. "Rob started kind of acting like a jerk. He got in a fight with Miroku and it was so embarrassing and then he kept hinting around about me going home with him and sleeping with him…I'm just so confused."
Brock didn't know about anyone else, but he had the feeling this was a girl's moment and he suddenly wasn't wanted. "I'll be upstairs in the bedroom if anyone needs me."
"That's a good idea, Brock." Sakura agreed and watched him ascend the stairs. "Sango, honey, I'm so sorry you're date went bad. I really was hoping it would have went better. You deserve better."
Sango looked up at her and felt like she couldn't cry anymore. Sakura handed her a tissue and Sango wiped her eyes. "It wasn't really Rob's fault…Miroku started it all."
Sakura ran her fingers through Sango's hair and gave her a smile. "Well, you know how Miroku is. He's an egomaniac. He didn't like seeing you with Rob and it probably just upset him."
"Why do thing have to be so complicated?" Sango asked, burying her face into Sakura's shoulder. She felt like a whiney baby, but she didn't care right now. She needed to cry.
"Things will get better, dear." Sakura promised. "Brock and I had our ups and downs. He was a womanizer back in his hay day."
"Brock?" Sakura asked in disbelief.
The blue-haired half demon laughed. "Yes, Brock. He was horrible. I remember just after Ayame was born, I would say she was about 8 months old, there was this woman who moved in down the street." Sakura explained. "Well, Ayame had come down with a really awful cold, so I had to take her the doctor. When I came home that afternoon, I found him kissing that woman in our own kitchen."
Sango's eyes grew wide. "What did you do?"
"I told the woman to get out of my house. I went to our room, packed her bags, grabbed Ayame and went to my sister's house." Sakura told her.
Sango peered down at her hands and fiddled with her bracelet. "How did you work things out?"
"Well, I lived with my sister for a couple of months, by then I had calmed down enough to talk to him. Turns out she was the one who grabbed him and kissed him. I wasn't sure if I wanted to believe him, but it was a likely story, so I told him one more chance and one more chance only. And well the rest is history."
Sango hugged her. "Thank you so much, Mrs. Harrison. This talk really helped. I think I'm going to call Rob and tell him I'm sorry about tonight."
Sakura smiled at her. "You should invite him over. He really did seem nice. Maybe for Sunday dinner."
"That sounds like a great idea." Sango said smiling. "Sakura?"
"Yes, honey?"
"Do you think…" She said, fiddling with her invisible wedding ring that she was so used to fooling with. "we could…take a look at the divorce papers after I get off the phone?"
Sakura looked at her for a few silent seconds. "If that's what you want to do, dear."
Miroku walked into the entrance of the apartment building around just before 11:00. He walked into the living room to see that Amber and Nelly were watching a movie, Akira was asleep on Hayden's lap and Hitomi was still coloring.
Her blue eyes lit up when he walked into the room and she clambered to her feet and rushed up to hug him. "Daddy!"
"Hey there, princess. I missed you." He said, picking her up and kissing her cheek.
Nelly smiled lazily. "She's been a perfect angel. You're little devil child conked out about a half hour ago."
"That's a blessing…" Miroku said, running one hand through his hair and holding Hitomi with his other, who had become very tired just in the past few minutes and laid her head tiredly on his shoulder.
Hayden rubbed Akira's hair out of her face then looked up at him. She could never grow tired of the way he looked. She smiled. "How was your date?"
Miroku scoffed and grinned. "I would say it was hell, but that would be an understatement. Sango was there with Rob." He said. "Out of all the places in Tokyo, they had to pick that one."
"What happened?" Amber asked.
"He kissed her. I lost it. I got in a fight. Sango hit me in the head with her purse. She ran outside crying, then I kissed Alyssa and I think I might have truly ruined ever getting back with her again." Miroku explained, trying to make a long story short.
Amber frowned. "That's too bad, houshi-sama." She said.
"Yea, well…" he trailed off. "Things change I guess."
Hitomi lifted her head up. "I drew you a pretty picture daddy." She said tiredly.
Miroku smiled and set her down on the floor. "Well, let's see it."
Hitomi kneeled down in front of her mess and sifted through the papers on the floor. "Here it is." She said, giving him a drawing of stick people. "See there's you. You have a pop-tart in your hand. There's Akira, and there is me. And there is mommy." She said, pointing to another figure, then she looked up at him. "Just like we used to be…"
The room was silent and Miroku felt as if he was going to cry. "Hitomi…you shouldn't draw things like this…" he choked out.
"You don't like it?" She asked, sadly as he stood up and reached over to grab Akira off the sofa, who remained asleep as he slung her over his shoulder.
"No. I love it. It's just…" He looked away from her. "C'mon, little lady, it's way past your bedtime."
He reached down and picked up her coloring book. "Get your crayons and let's go."
Hitomi picked them up and grabbed his hand as he led her towards the elevator. "Goodnight aunt Amber and Uncle Nelly."
"Goodnight Hitomi, and Akira." Amber said. "Goodnight Miroku…"
"Night…" He said, dryly and stepped into the elevator.
The four year old girl peered at her drawing and was trying to figure out why her father didn't like it. She had thought it was a masterpiece and he always loved drawings of his family.
Akira snored loudly in his ear. Miroku looked at her. "She's out like a light." He said, as the doors dinged open. "It's lights out for you when we get in, OK?"
Hitomi nodded up at him and blinked her tired eyes. "Are you going to hang my picture up?"
Miroku stuck his key in the lock and turned it. "I don't know."
"You promised…" She reminded him, looking up.
He glanced down at her. "Alright. I'll hang it up." He said, taking it from her and walking over to the fridge, then fastened it with a magnet, which caused her to smile.
Akira yawned and opened her eyes tiredly. "Mommy?"
"Hey there, sleepyhead." The monk said, smiling at her as he finally placed her on the floor to her feet. "You two go get ready for bed, alright?"
Akira looked around. "Where's mommy?"
Miroku sighed. "She's not here." He sat down on the couch and flipped on the television. "Go brush your teeth and get ready for bed." He ordered again, and Akira grabbed Hitomi's hand and led her to the bathroom.
He sat on the couch and watched the pictures flip by mindlessly. Nothing held his interest anymore, not even football. His life just completely sucked now that Sango was gone and his vision became blurry with tears. "Sango…" He whispered to himself and he wiped a tear away from the corner of his eye.
Hitomi walked over to him and climbed in his lap. "Why are you crying, daddy?"
"I…I'm not crying. I just have something in my eye." He said, wiping both his eyes. "Akira, did you brush your teeth, too?"
"Yes, daddy."
"Floss?"
"Yes, daddy." She repeated.
"Alright. Now off to bed. You too, Hitomi."
She hesitated beside him.
Miroku was now becoming just a little annoyed. "What?"
Hitomi timidly looked at him. "Mommy always says goodnight to us before we go to sleep."
Miroku buried his face in his hands. "Alright. I'll say goodnight to you."
"And reads us a story." Akira reminded, and Miroku stood up.
"Alright, but only a short one. I have to get up in the morning." He said, walking them to their bedroom.
Akira climbed into her bed and Hitomi did the same in the other bed near the wall. Miroku searched through their bookcase for a book. "Alright, so what book do you guys want me to read?"
"Mommy never reads a book." Hitomi said. Akira nodded.
"Yea, she makes up something."
Miroku's shoulder slouched. "Well, I'm not as good as she is at making up stories."
Akira sat on her knees and peered at him with those brown eyes that reminded him so much of Sango. "Please daddy?"
He sighed and sat back down in the small chair that was 5 times too small for his behind. How did Sango manage to sit in this thing? "Alright. I'll try, but I'm not promising anything."
Akira settled back down in her bed and Hitomi faced him.
"Once, there was a monk," Miroku began.
"Was that you daddy?" Akira asked.
"Yes it was me." He replied. "Anyway, one day that monk met a beautiful princess, who had a knack for killing large demons."
"Ew!" Hitomi exclaimed. "Mommy never puts demons in the stories!" She said in disgust.
Miroku glanced at her. "Well, this is my story, not mommy's. No more interruptions, OK?"
Hitomi sighed. "OK, daddy."
"OK, so anyway. The monk and the demon slaying princess fall in love, but they don't tell each other." He said. "Then one day, they get in a fight and they fall down a well." He looked over to see that his daughters were looking at him with great interest.
"When they climbed out they saw a strange world, full of futuristic things and all kinds of the things that were very mystifying." He continued, adding a dramatic tone to his voice. "Well, the princess meets a villain, we'll call him Howie for short."
"Is the princess mommy?" Akira asked, again.
Miroku paused. "Akira, lay back down. OK, So anyway. Howie steals the princess away from the monk. So the monk starts dating other princesses, but he always holds that one special princess to his heart. Well one day there's a show down between the monk and Howie. Can you guess which one won?" He asked, looking side to side at both his girls.
Akira yawned. "Howie?"
Miroku laughed. "No. The monk dude won! And do you know what happened after he swallowed his pride and finally asked her to be his bride?"
Hitomi and Akira were silent.
"Two very beautiful and very sleepy princesses were born. And they slowly fell asleep…" He quieted his voice. "and had peaceful dreams…and didn't wake up until morning."
He quietly walked out of the room and shut the door.
"Daddy!" Hitomi screamed.
The houshi opened the door. "I thought you were asleep."
"Mommy leaves the door cracked for me because I'm scared of the dark." She said, blinking at him pitifully.
Miroku turned on the hallway light and cracked her door. "Goodnight, princesses. Sleep tight." He watched the two of them slowly drift back to sleep before he walked away towards his own bedroom.
He sat on his bed and pulled his wedding picture from the dresser. He stared at it for a long time, and he'll never forget how beautiful Sango looked in that dress. She was simply stunning. "I'm still hoping you'll come back home." He said softly, then placed it back on his nightstand.
He pulled down the covers and sat back in bed then pulled her pillow to him. "I still love you." Miroku said drinking in her scent. "Goodnight, Sango."
Sango gave Sakura another hug goodnight before she headed up to her own bedroom, where Kirara lay sleeping on her bed. The twin-tailed cat became alert as soon as Sango entered the room and happily greeted her with a small meow.
"Hey there, Kirara." She said, patting her on the head. Then searched through her luggage case to find her sleeping clothes. She had calmed down considerably in the last couple hours and the only thing she was worried about was if Miroku had read the girls their bedtime story.
"You think he's taking good care of them?" Sango asked her feline companion who just mewed in response. "I miss him…sometimes." She said.
She settled down the bed. "Good news though. Rob's coming to Sunday dinner!"
Kirara made a low sound of disapproval and rubbed against Sango's arm. "You don't like rob?" She asked.
Kirara pawed at Sango's wedding ring she had placed on the table when she had taken it off. "Kirara, cut it out. Miroku's a jerk. You know, he once used you as a chick magnet. You remember that, don't you?"
The small cat just twirled her tails and her owner sighed. "Goodnight, Kirara. I'll see you in the morning."
She pulled down the bed covers and Kirara rested against her back, wrapping herself up in her large fluffy tail.
Laying there for a few moments, she heard the wind blow violently outside her window and she missed his strong arms around her waist, holding onto her tightly, keeping her safe and warm. "Stupid jerk…" she muttered tiredly. (What's Alyssa got that I don't?) She thought to herself.
Her mind raced until she couldn't form a coherent thought in her head, and she eventually drifted off into a very uneasy sleep.
Saturday morning came all too early for Miroku, and he pulled himself from the light, lucid sleep he had been in all night long. He sat up in his big empty bed in the semi-dark bedroom and then placed his feet on the floor.
He rubbed his eyes tiredly and he wondered how much longer he could go without a good night's rest. He glanced over at his wedding picture and ran his fingers over his rough face. He probably looked like a hobo, and he really didn't even care anymore.
If it wasn't for Akira and Hitomi he wouldn't even be going into work today. Today was definitely going to be a drag and he knew Reggie and everyone else at work would have heard about that fight he got into at the restaurant the night before.
Standing up from his bed, he prepared for work rather quickly then stared at himself in the mirror. He was better looking them Rob wasn't he? Even with the rough beard on his face and his un-ironed shirt? Maybe not. He wasn't a woman he couldn't tell.
Even Hayden, who had an unhealthily, obsessive fascination with him had said Rob was "dreamy". Did it really matter anyway? Sango was out of his life forever and he would just have to learn to deal with it.
Then, he heard a bump and loud scream. Great. One of the girl's hurt themselves.
He rushed into their bedroom, where he saw Akira laying on the floor and Hitomi sitting up in bed rubbing her eyes. Miroku became nervous. Sango was going to kill him. "Akira, what happened?"
His only response was a loud cry from her, and he picked her up and set her on the bed. "It's OK. You just rolled out of bed. Did you hit your head?"
"My arm hurts." She said between sobs.
"You hit your arm?" Miroku asked her, and pulled it towards him only to make her release a blood curdling scream. Not a good idea. "Alright, I won't touch it."
Oh, Buddha, he was in trouble. Sango already thought he was irresponsible. Akira's arm might have been broken while she was in his care. Why him? Why now?
"Akira, just calm down, ok?" He said picking her up.
"I don't want you. I want mommy!" She hollered and Miroku sighed.
"Alright. I'll call her. Akira you stay in here, Hitomi get dressed." He was barking orders and Hitomi looked as if she was about to burst into tears as well. He picked up his cell phone off the kitchen table, where he had carelessly thrown it the night before and dialed Sango's number.
After four long rings, she picked up sounding very tired. "Hello?"
"Hey, it's me." Miroku said, feeling his mouth go dry.
Sango rolled her eyes. "What do you---is Akira crying?"
The monk quickly shut his bedroom door to drown out the sound. "Uh…well…"
"What happened? Did she fall out of the car?"
"No." He said, nervously. "She…fell out of bed."
He heard her sigh on the other end of the phone. "You didn't make sure she took the bed near the wall did you?"
"I…well…I didn't know!" Miroku exclaimed in his defense.
"Miroku, how could you be so stupid? Akira always sleeps on the bed near the wall because she has a tendency to roll to the right when she sleeps." Sango argued with him, as she stood up out of bed. "I'm coming over there. Is she seriously hurt?"
"Well," He began slowly. He could tell his wife's patience was wearing thin. "She won't let me touch her arm."
"Her arm's probably broken." She said. "I'll be there in 10 minutes. I'll ask Mrs. Harrison if I can borrow her car, since mine's not working."
"It's not still not working?"
"That's not important right now, Miroku." Her voice was agitated. "I'll be there in 10 minutes. Put an ice pack on her arm until I get there. I'm taking her to the doctor."
Miroku panicked. "An ice pack? Where do you keep those?"
"The freezer!" Sango replied exasperated. "I have to go so I can get dressed and leave." Then she hung up, leaving him with nothing but a dial tone.
Miroku clicked the end button and walked over to the freezer, and searched around the ice pack. Akira was still crying and he was starting to get a headache. Maybe when Sango got here things would be better.
Or worse…
He finally managed to find the gel-filled pouch that was almost frozen solid in the door of the freezer. He walked back into their bedroom to find Akira's arm had turned black and blue just above the elbow.
"Oh! That looks pretty bad." Miroku said, concerned. "Here, put this on it. It will help the swelling."
Hitomi wiped the tears from her eyes and walked over towards Miroku and Akira. "Is mommy coming?"
"Yes. She's coming. I'll have to call in and tell them I'm going to be late for work." He said, glancing over at their Tinkerbell clock. "Akira, can you hold this on there?"
She slowly nodded through her tears and Miroku stood up, reaching into his pocket to pull out his cell phone. He exchanged a few words with Reggie and no sooner had he hung up, the front door opened.
Sango rushed into the bedroom to see Miroku holding the ice pack back to her arm, and she laid her purse on the bed, then kneeled down in front of Akira. "Don't cry. I'm here now." She said softly, hugging her.
Miroku stood by the wall and watched her. "It's bruised pretty badly." He informed her and Sango removed the ice pack to look at her arm.
"That looks terrible." She said. "C'mon, we're going to the doctor." She lifted Akira off the bed and Miroku was grateful she had stopped crying. Sango looked at him for a moment. "Are you coming?"
All he could do was nod, and he knew she was very angry with him. If Akira hadn't been hurt she would probably be yelling at him for how much of an idiot he was.
"I took Mrs. Harrison's car. I moved the car seats in the back temporarily. Grab Hitomi and let's go." She demanded quickly, not even glancing at him, but he obeyed her and lifted Hitomi off the floor.
Miroku could already tell, this was going to be a long day.
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