A/N: Well, not much to say. Just posting chapter 2. Hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I don't Inuyasha… :opens closet and feeds tied up Inuyasha cast:

Miroku had arrived at his apartment building, nearly frozen to death. The outside of the building was designed to look like an aged French chateau style. There were things such as chunks of plaster missing from various corners of the building, soft green shutters beside each window, and a shake roof. Before he stepped through the gold rotating door that allowed them into the lobby, he leaned down and whispered to Etsuko, "Okay, now, just stay down there and don't move. I'm really not allowed to have you in here." Miroku then zipped up his coat and pushed the door open. Strangely enough, Etsuko followed orders and ducked further down into his jacket. The inside of the building really looked more like a hotel. There was a seating area to the left with a few floral couches and to his right were the entrances to the pool, work out room, and other such things. Right ahead was a desk with some bored employees who could usually be found playing cards or having silly contests like the Paper Airplane Olympics. They were celebrating the winter Olympics at that time. There were very strange accessories everywhere like huge bronze sculptures of cranes, oil paintings of people of no importance, and random globes on tall wooden stands that no one ever had a use for.

Miroku crossed his arms against his waist to hide the lump in his coat and greeted the people at the desk. "Hey, Mitsuki, what division are you in right now?" Miroku asked this, seeing the two employees at the desk making paper airplanes.

She lifted her head from her work and grinned. "Oh, hey there, Miroku! Right now Kiyoshi and I are in the designing competition." Mitsuki had short black hair, just barely reaching her shoulders. There was also the official timekeeper (An old kitchen timer found in one of their desk drawers) set on top of the counter. Apparently they only had a few minutes left.

Kiyoshi didn't look up from his work but commented, "Yeah, and I'm going to win it this year!" Kiyoshi had the same look as Mitsuki, which made Miroku think that they would make a cute couple.

"Oh, yeah right!" Mitsuki then turned her attention back on her airplane. "See ya', Miroku!"

"Bye!" he yelled back. Miroku took a left, passed the seating area, and walked down the hall to get to the elevator. He walked by many doors of other people's apartments until finally he reached the end of the hall and turned right to enter.

Miroku pressed the button with the 'up' arrow and waited for the doors to open. He crooked one finger around his coat collar and peeked to see Etsuko. "You're doing great. Just a bit further." The elevator doors slowly opened and he stepped in. Inside, he saw Mrs. Obayashi, his elderly neighbor. She treated Miroku like a son or sorts and was very kind to him. Today she was wearing her pink hat and knitted poncho.

"Why, hello, Miroku!" she said pleasantly.

"Hi, Mrs. Obayashi." Miroku gave a slight bow, "How are you today?"

"Oh, just fine, thank you." Miroku stepped into the elevator and Mrs. Obayashi pressed the '12'. They lived across the hall from each other so she had no need to ask which floor he was on. They both lived on the very top floor of the building. "Miroku, you need to come visit me sometime."

"That would be nice." He said this in all honesty. The elevator doors opened and they both stepped off and started walking down the hallway, Mrs. Obayashi's cane making a soft 'thump' on the tacky patterned carpet every time she took a step. "How's Norio?" Norio was Mrs. Obayashi's son.

"He's doing great. He and his wife just settled down into a new house in Okayama so he's doing well. Speaking of wives,"she got and impish look in her eyes, "how are you and that Noriko girl getting along?"

"Oh, she's... fine. She's coming over on Wednesday."

"That's good." They had arrived at their apartments, theirs were at the end of the hall. Miroku shoved his key into the doorknob and was about to step inside when he heard Mrs. Obayashi's voice once again. "Oh, and Miroku," he stopped and turned around to face her, "what is that in your coat?" She pointed to the obvious lump in question.

"Oh, this?" He pointed to his coat, as if he didn't know what she was talking about. He leaned forward slightly and whispered, "I just got a cat." He held one finger to his lips to motion silence.

"Sure, Miroku. You bring her on over to have me take a look at her, okay?"

"I'll do that." And with that he stepped inside. Miroku turned around to lock the door and then unzipped his coat half way. Etsuko popped her head out of his coat and hung her paws over the opening, making Miroku laugh. He took Etsuko out and hung his coat on the coat hanger that stood next to the door.

Miroku had a pretty nice apartment. There were dark purple colored walls and on one side of the room there was the entertainment area, such as a TV, a black couch, and a matching loveseat. On the other side of the room was a pretty normal looking kitchen, just white cabinets and a tiled floor. In the corner of the room was a small table with a couple chairs seated at either end. There were other such things like a small tree, a bookshelf, and a couple end tables on the ends of the sofa.

Miroku put Etsuko down on the couch and took a seat next to her after he had put his slippers on. Etsuko reluctantly let Miroku pick her up and start stroking her. He found that she got more agitated the lower you rubbed down her back so he stuck to petting her head. He did this for a while and yawned as he looked at the clock. It was getting late. He set Etsuko on the ground and walked down the hall to his bedroom. Etsuko surprisingly followed him, trotting down the hallway and Miroku held the door open and let her in.

Miroku's bedroom had the same look as the front room but with a few different things including a set of drawers, a closet, and a vanity. Miroku started dressing and Etsuko's back fur rose erect. She then quickly turned around to face the wall. Miroku, now in navy blue flannel pants and an old gray T-shirt, chuckled at his quirky cat. He lied down, relishing the feeling of finally resting, and patted the extra pillow on the bed for Etsuko to sleep on. Instead, she declined and found a spot on the floor curled up and sleep. Miroku shrugged and reached over to turn off the bedside lamp to get a good night's rest.