The Perfect Actress

"I would be delighted for you to bear my children." The lecherous monk asked yet another innocent girl, as they sat together in a bright field. The girl just stared at Miroku, her face flushed and her eyes wide.
"You letch!" Sango cried, as she brought the herikotsu down upon Miroku's head. "She's just a young girl!" Miroku dropped the child's hands and looked up at Sango with innocence in his eyes, but all she did was glare down at him. He dropped his gaze, and thought angrily to himself 'there I go again. Why do I let that horrid habit come back? All I accomplish is angering Sango.'

Sango stalked off toward a brook, and sat down upon a boulder in a huff. Her arms crossed over her breast, and her stare unbroken, she glared down into the water. Miroku walked over tentatively, as not to bring more pain upon him. "Eh, Sango? Do you mind if I join you?"

She kept her gaze down. "I don't see why not." 'Shoot, she's still mad.' Miroku thought hysterically.

"I'm sorry about the girl, its just I've been asking that question for so long its getting hard to stop." He looked at Sango's face for a reaction, but her expression didn't change at all. "Well then…" he said after a few moments of extremely uncomfortable silence. "I'll go help Kagome make us some dinner." He got up and left.

When Sango was sure he was far away, out of sight, her eyes suddenly brimmed with tears. 'That idiot,' she thought. 'He asks all those young fair maidens and girls to bear his children all the time. When he met me, not a word was spoken. How thick can you get?' a single tear fell onto her hand as it clenched in her lap. 'But I'm glad he doesn't know. He can't know I love him now… maybe after we defeat Naraku I will tell him… or maybe he will have six kids by then. She rose in silence, wiped her tears on her robe sleeve, and rinsed her face in the brook before returning to the hut.

Meanwhile, Miroku was mentally abusing himself. All he could think of was Sango's jealous anger. 'Wait,' he thought to himself. 'Why on earth would she get so mad? All the other girls don't seem to mind. I mean, I can't even remember how she acted when I asked her to…' he thought a moment. He couldn't recall ever asking Sango, the most beautiful woman he'd ever met, to bear his children. 'How could I be so stupid?'

Sango pulled back the door to the hut and stepped in. Kagome was boiling ramen over the fire and Miroku was sitting in the corner. But as she entered, he stood up and hurried over to her. "Sango," he said, with a meaningful voice. He grasped her hands in his and held them, as he said, "Would you consider bearing my children?"

'How random!' Kagome thought. 'She's been traveling with us for the longest time, and he just asks her now?'

Sango's eyes widened, and her cheeks were shot with red. 'Oh no, she's angry with me…' Miroku thought. He thought her face had reddened from anger, but she had actually blushed. 'Why did he ask me this now?' ran through Sango's mind. 'How did he know I was thinking about it?' "Spare me, would you?" she asked loudly, with what she hoped to be an angry voice. She spun on her heel and stalked out of the hut.

"Darn," is all Miroku said, but in his mind he knew that he just ruined his life, by making the woman he adored angrier with him.

Sango did not return for dinner. Inuyasha had seen her running toward the woods, just before he came in. 'Running?' Miroku stood up. "Thank you for the Ramen, Kagome." He said, handing her a practically full cup. He walked out the door.

"What's with them today?" Inuyasha asked, his face full of noodles.

"I don't know, but I hope everything's alright." Kagome replied. Suddenly Miroku strode back in, grabbed the steaming cup of ramen meant for Sango and a pair of chopsticks, and left again. "Miroku, wait! That's Sango's!"

Miroku was walking in the direction of the forest when he met up with Sango. "Oh, here! I brought your dinner for you! I didn't know when you were going to be returning, so I thought…" Sango took the cup from him and took the chopsticks too.

"Thank you, Miroku." She said, her voice unnaturally level. Her eyes were bloodshot, but otherwise she seemed fine.

"Are you alright, Sango?" he asked, falling into stride beside her. She nodded, and her foot struck a rock and she stumbled, causing her to spill some steaming ramen onto her hand. She cried out in pain, and the soup fell from her grasp and spilled all over the ground.

"I'm sorry Miroku," she said. She didn't exactly know why, but he had brought out the food for her and she had ruined it. Miroku however, was looking at her hand, which had turned red in one spot. He held it up to his mouth and kissed the burn. His eyes held an apologetic look as he held her hand. She snatched it from him, and picked up the cup and chopsticks that she dropped and headed for the hut. She stood for a moment outside the door, and stopped to glance over at Miroku. He was looking over in her direction, but the girl from this morning had her arms about his waist. Her eyes grew hot, and she dropped the bowl again and hurried off across the meadow.

Miroku watched her go, and asked the girl to please let him be. He felt bad now, for asking her to bear his child and then rejecting her, but he needed to go see Sango. He followed her, bur from afar as for her not to see him. She slipped into a grove of trees as the sun lowered behind the mountains, and soon all was dark. He felt around in front of him to find a tree, and when he came to one he stopped. The moon was rising on the opposite side of the sky, that should be enough light. He stepped among the trees.

Sango knelt down in the shade of a great oak, her elbows in her lap and her face in her hands. She sobbed only for a moment, and was then taken over by silent tears. "I can hardly stand it anymore," she said to herself. "But I can't let him see it. He can't know! I have to hold on to something, or he'll find out…"

"Find out what?" He said, as he walked under the oak. Sango stood up so quickly she stumbled into Miroku, who caught her. The light kept him from seeing, though, how red her face became. She pulled away. "What can't I know?"

"If you couldn't know it, why would I tell you?" her voice sounded strong, but wavered as though on the point of tears.

"Its okay," Miroku said, taking another step toward her. " I'm here for you. You don't need to cry anymore." Sango continued walking back, until she hit another tree.

"Oh Miroku… oh Miroku I wish I could tell you so much… but I…" She stopped. 'What's wrong?' Miroku screamed in his head. 'Is some demon hurting you?' he stepped forward again and pulled her into his arms. "Whatever it is," he whispered into her ear. "I'm here for you. You can trust me."

"Can I… Can I trust you with" 'why is she stammering?' "Can I trust you with my heart?" Miroku stiffened, and let these words sink in. Sango could feel the tension, and squirmed in his arms, but he continued to hold her tight. 'oh god,' she thought. 'don't make it end now…'

"Sango…" Miroku said. "I love you."

"…I love you too."