These characters do not belong to me.

Choosing a Partner

Chapter 10

By Kenzie Kennedy

**Before you read the story, please read this. I'm updating one chapter per day. That's it. Update soon is getting a little repetitive in the reviews.*

Sango shrugged. "I’d toss them if I were you. I’ve got a better system and so do you."

Kagome nodded. "I’ll haul these out to the curb, too, then. Does Miroku want this room or can Inuyasha have it?"

"It’s closer to your room," Sango offered.

"Okay, we’ll move Inuyasha’s bed and closet in here. Oh! I found a bureau." Kagome showed it to Sango.

"Girls?" Rimiko poked her head into the room. "I could use some help with dinner."

Kagome and Sango looked at each other. They looked at the guys. "Would you mind sweeping the room and putting your stuff in here?" Kagome asked Inuyasha.

"Maybe Miroku would help," Sango offered.

Miroku nodded. "As you like, Sango." He bent to pick up one of the computer monitors as Inuyasha picked up the central processing unit. The girls ran off to the kitchen and the boys took over.

***

Miroku and Sango headed to the library after dinner. Sango walked into the room that they had modified to serve as a resting area for all the books they had collected over the years. Since most of the family read as much as they could there were quite a few. "Pick a book you’ve read," Sango asked.

Miroku complied by scanning the shelves. He finally plucked out a book on science.

Sango accepted the book from his hands. "Is there something you have an opinion about in this book? A thought?" she prompted.

Miroku shook his head. "Slaves do not think, Sango."

Sango reached out and bopped him over the head with the book. Not hard, just a slight tap. Miroku looked shocked but his face sobered in a moment.

Sango grinned at him. He thinks I just disobeyed the ‘no beating slaves’ rule. She handed the book to him. "Now do the same to me," she instructed.

"No, Sango."

Sango raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"
"Slaves cannot hurt their masters, Sango."

Sango sighed. "Did I hurt you?"

"No, Sango."

"Then why won’t you tap me on the head?" Sango demanded. "You were annoying me. I bonked you on the head. When you’re friends with someone and they annoy you, you do a number of things. You give them a look, bonk them lightly on the head, tell them playfully to shut up, something!"

Miroku shook his head. "No, Sango."

Sango walked to the table she and Kagome had chosen Miroku and Inuyasha on and sat down. She put the book down on the table and shoved it away. She took several deep breaths. "I don’t know what to do," she said out loud. "How can I get you to act like a person with opinions and stuff?"

There were a few minutes of silence while Sango thought bleakly of a future where she’d have to rely on Rimiko to find her a friend/husband or marry Miroku and try to remake him into a human being.

"Will you hurt me, Sango?"

Sango looked up. "What?" she said disbelieving what her ears had told her.

Miroku’s eyes looked at her warily. "Will you hurt me if I do, Sango? You are the master and I am the slave, Sango. I am not supposed to have opinions or thoughts, just actions based on what my master wants, Sango."

"No, I will not hurt you." Sango said slowly. She hoped those words said what she couldn’t find words for. She didn’t want to hurt another person much less him. She wanted him to have thoughts for that was one of the joys of being a person. If he had thoughts and became more than what he was maybe she’d have found the person that she longed for.

Miroku looked at her longingly and shook his head. "No, Sango," he said firmly.

"No what?" Sango asked.

"I will not share my thoughts even if I had them, Sango. I am not free and I am not a husband, Sango. Not even with the lure of my life and freedom will I break, Sango."

"Break?" Sango asked.

Miroku’s smile became pasted on his face. "Yes, Sango."

From the look on his face, Sango knew she’d get nothing more out of him. He was walled up inside. She chose a book and went to the doorway. She didn’t turn as she said, "Go to bed if you’re tired. If you’d like, choose a book to read." Sango left the room.

********************

Sera: Sesshoumaru is Rin's.

Like-anyother: Sesshoumaru will show up somewhere around Chapter 24.

Inuyasha-loves-Kagome: The guys do start acting as themselves a bit more. Perhaps…three chapters from now? *grin*

Dark VisioN: When will Kagome and Inuyasha kiss? That's what you're asking? Oh, that one's difficult. I'd say…chapter 29/30.

A lot of reviews came in as being from xing@fanfiction.net, but there were different names because some people signed their reviews in text at the bottom. So I have no idea what went on.