A/N: UGH I STILL HAVE TO WRITE THIS! I have some sort of sick sense of duty to finish this story.

Chapter Six

"So… tell me about yourself, Inuyasha."

"Keh. That's original."

"Can't you just humor me?" Kagome huffed in irritation.

"I am. I'm out here walking around with you!" Inuyasha crossed his arms over his chest defiantly.

"That's not enough!"

"Sure it is," Inuyasha replied.

Kagome hugged her clipboard to her chest as the wind whipped past. She sighed.

"Listen… for now, don't think of me as your doctor. Think of me as a friend."

"I don't have friends."

Well that's obvious, Kagome thought cynically.

"Except…" Kagome turned to look sideways at him. "Except for Sango. She's the only one I can act normal around."

"Well… tell me about her," Kagome prodded.

"She just… she doesn't think I'm crazy. She doesn't judge me. Sango's just Sango. That's it. A normal friend."

Kagome smiled. Finally Inuyasha's soft side was easing out of his hard exterior.

"Everyone needs a true friend," Kagome commented absently. Inuyasha glanced over at the doctor, noting the faraway look in her eyes.

"Keh."

OOO

Suddenly, the ground began to crunch.

"Shit!" Kouga shouted, leaping off the carpet in his office. "What's going on? What is that?" He stared at the carpet, waiting for it to move.

There's gotta be some animal under there… I'll kill it if it comes out!

He waited in anticipation, perched on his desk, but nothing stirred. Figuring it was just his imagination, he stepped down from the desk and tapped the floor with his foot. He jerked back at the sound of another crunch and remained on his desk.

"I'm not taking any chances!" He growled, grabbing his desk chair from behind him and brandishing it at the carpet. "Come out!" he yelled. The door to his office immediately opened, startling the doctor.

The young man in the doorway blinked.

"Oh, er… sorry," Kouga said sheepishly. He looked around the room. "Must be rats," he muttered.

The confused visitor cleared his throat and politely ignored Kouga's strange antics. "I'm a visitor here to see Sango. Takashi Sango."

"Rats… rats…" Kouga continued to hiss. The man in the doorway noticed that the doctor hadn't relinquished his desk chair, nor had he gotten down from the desk.

"Um, sir? I said I'm here to visit a patient, did you hear me?" Or is he a patient? The man thought to himself.

Kouga's head snapped up. "Oh yes! Sango, right. Well if you'll give me a moment…" he stepped down from his desk. "Time to find out what you really are!" He shouted, grabbing the corners of his carpet and pulling. Beneath the carpet he discovered…

All of his paperwork.

Now how did that get there—ah! Miroku. Kouga thought to himself. He stood up and faced his guest.

"Alright then, if you'll give me your name, I'll add you to our visitor's log, you'll receive your pass, and you may see Sango."

"Fine," the stranger nodded, giving the doctor a weary look. "My name is Takeda Kuranosuke."

OOO

Miroku was busy wandering the halls of Hideko Institute, once again with nothing to do and no one to keep him company. He knew that Kouga would eventually find the papers he had shoved under the carpet and dreaded their next meeting, but for the moment he was oddly peaceful.

What a way to handle rejection, Miroku thought to himself ironically. Sango briefly flashed through his mind again. Their last meeting had started off fairly friendly, but somehow took a turn for the worse. The problem lied in the rose he picked and their mysterious color-coded meanings.

Shoulda' been a florist.

He turned a corner and found him in the same hallway that Sango's room was located in. Strangely enough, he often found himself in this area of the hospital, as if he were drawn to it. Everything looked as it had since he last came down the hallway, but he noticed that one door stood ajar. He edged closer, wondering if it was really Sango's room or his eyes were playing tricks on him. He squinted at the door and saw the number 241 gleaming in the bright light.

Getting as close as he dared to, Miroku picked up the sound of voices. He picked out Sango's voice, but there was an unfamiliar and masculine voice present as well. His initial thought was Kouga, Sango's doctor, but at a second evaluation, it didn't sound as gruff as Kouga. The sound of the man's voice was far more regal. Miroku pulled a face.

Sango's getting visits from little rich boys? Who's in there?

Miroku's mind was reeling.