"Dammit!" Inuyasha slammed his fist hard into the trunk of a tree, angry. For the passed couple of days now, Naraku hasn't appeared. Not even once. Since then, all Inuyasha has been doing is loafing around; he was tired of it. Nothing seemed to interest him.

Kagome sighed deeply. The school-girl from another era rubbed Shippou's head as she thought of something to do.

"I know," Shippou squeaked as he raised his hand in excitment, "we can play this game I learned from a girl I once knew!" He now had everyone but Inuyasha's attention. "You see, you all take a sheet of paper, okay? And someone who doesn't have paper says a word. Well, everyone rights down the first thing that comes to their mind, and if you have the same answer, you win!"

"Well what do you win?" Inuyasha now seemed interested as well.

"Well," the small kitsune thought quietly to himself, then shook his head, "actually, you don't win anything. You just win."

"Keh, what a stupid kid's game." He shoved both hands in the sleeves of his haori and grunted.

"Well, I think it's a wonderful idea to pass the time," Miroku chimed in innocently. It seemed whatever aggitated Inuyasha, he loved to do. "Besides, what do we have better to do?"

Sango gulped. To her, writing down things such as this was not very 'fun.' "Well, you guys play. I don't want to today."

Miroku tilted his head and frowned a little. "But why not Sango? It would be much more enjoyable if you played as well..."

This now had Sango agreeing to play the game. She couldn't help it, it was as if he had some sort of spell on her. She watched Kagome dig through her bag, looking hard for paper and pens. Once found, she handed a sheet and pen to the blushing Sango first, moving around in the hemi-sphere until she had one left.

"Shippou-chan," she asked with a smile, handing what was left toward him,"would you like to be it or would you like me?"

Shippou happily pressed it away and sat in the middle of the half circle. "I'll be it Kagome! Are you guys ready?" He crossed his arms and thought hard to himself, wondering what he should shout. "How abouuuut...Kids?"

Everyone but Shippou and Sango began writting. Sango stared blankly around, then at her paper. She squinted, pressing the pen against the paper, but never wrote down a thing. Feeling her face growing hot, she acted like the was writting something until Shippou shouted 'stop.' Again, everyone but Sango lifted up their paper to let everyone else see. Kagome's said 'special.'

"Keh, special my ass! What's so special about them?"

Kagome's eyebrows furrowed before she pointed at Inuyasha's in anger. "Well they all aren't ANNOYING either, baka!"

"Yes they are! Tell me one kid I know that isn't annoying!"

"Shippou and Souta!" Kagome was growing more furious by the moment.

"THEY ARE ANNOYING!!!"

The argument quickly ended with a shouted 'osuwari,' and a hanyou-inu stuck in a hole. Sango smirked. She usually got entertained watching them quarrel like that. At first to her, it seemed like they hated it other, but as time passed, she knew they argued for a completly different reason.

Kagome sighed, her angry streak gone, and looked at Miroku. Her face instantly became flushed as she pointed angrily at Miroku. "Who puts 'SEX' when they think of kids!?"

Sango's eyes widened and stared at Miroku. "What the hell is wrong with you!?"

Miroku looked at his answer, then ack at them. He didn't understand why they were so angry. "What? You have to HAVE sex to have KIDS. Right?"

The whole group fell in silence, wondering how Miroku became such a lech. After a moment or two, Shippou finally looked at Sango. "What about you? What do you have?" Soon everyone's eyes was on Sango.

Her eyes widened as she stared at her blank paper. "Um...um...do you really want to know?"

Miroku's eyes lit up and he crawled his way towards her, "Is it my answer too? Is that why? Did we win? Did we??" He reached over and grabbed her paper. His excited expression quickly turned to confusion, examining the blank paper. "Why didn't you write anything Sango? Could you not think of anything?"

She stared at the ground in embarrasment, unsure if she should say why or not. "W-well you see..." She looked up, her face as red as a cherry. Would they make fun of her? "Y-you see, I-um...well, I can't..."

The houshi noticed what she was talking about while the others were still confused. He leaned towards her with a soft smile and said in a whisper, "You can't read, can you?"

She twitched but nodded after. 'He's going to embarrass me, isn't he?' she thought to herself as Miroku looked at the others.

"Well she did say she didn't want to play..." Miroku looked down at Sango and smiled again, "I apologize Sango, I made you play when you did not want to. You just didn't want to write anything."

"oooh, is that why?" Now Kagome understood why Sango was acting that way. She simply didn't want to play.

"Why don't we just end this game here, alright?" Miroku stretched and yawned, acting bored. "It actually is boring."

Sango stared at him and smiled to herself. He was being nice to her, even if he was a pervert.

"And another thing, Kagome-sama," Miroku turned to Kagome and pointed at her bag, "Do you have any 'books' in there?"

Kagome looked towards her bag, pondering, then turned back towards Miroku. "Yeah, I have a literature book I have to read for class, why?"

It took him a minute to respond; he seemed to be thinking deeply. "No, no, that won't do at all. Do you have...maybe a really easy book? You had one not too long ago...with pictures?"

After a moment or two, Kagome finally understood and shook her head. "No, I don't have any picture books with me right now...do you need it or something?"

"Yes. I was wanting to look at it. Could you bring me one next time you go to your world?"

"I'm going tomorrow, so sure! I'll get the one my brother likes. But for right now, let's get something to eat started."

Sango was growing more and more nervous with the conversation Miroku and Kagome were having. What was he planning to do anyway, tease her? Sure he was being nice a moment ago, but he does tease her alot. 'He probably thinks I'm stupid now,' she thought in embarrassment, 'he'll read me the story in a dumb voice and stuff, won't he?' She sighed to herself before deciding to help Kagome with dinner.

The next afternoon, Kagome came back with a large, thin book and handed it over to Miroku. "This is what you wanted, wasn't it?"

"Why yes," he answered with a large smile, "thank you very much, Kagome-sama. Now if you do not mind me, I would like to have some time by myself to read." He began his way off, but was stopped by Kagome.

"I want you to wait for a while. Sango's taking a bath." Her expression quickly went flat when she saw Miroku's 'innocent' reaction, "And I don't think she'll like it when she looks up to find you nearby 'reading' a book."

"Why Kagome," he said with surprise and horror, "I have a book now, and I would very well want to enjoy it! And you know me, if I go near her in her current 'condition' I would be well dead in a matter of minutes!" He continued his way towards the woods again as he looked back at Kagome. "Now, I will be on my way! See you three later!" And with that, he disappeared.

"Do you really trust Miroku so easily like that," Inuyasha said above Kagome in a tree, his pinky stuck in his ear. Shippou nodded his head, agreeing completly with him.

Kagome sighed heavily before taking out her book from class and began reading, "No I don't at all, but he's right. If Sango catches sight of him, he's dead."

Miroku wondered exactly where he wanted to, and where he shouldn't. Near Sango's location. Though he was far enough not to see anything. "It's better if I don't get too close, or she might not come to me," he said confidently to himself. "Sango!"

The calling of the slayer's name made her jump and not too long after, turn angrily towards Miroku, more sunken in the water than she was. She was about to scream and throw things at him until she noticed she didn't see him. He wasn't as close as he usually was, in fact, he was a little too far off to be Miroku. "What the hell do you think you're doing," she shouted loud enough to where he could hear her. "You know better!"

Miroku smiled cheesily, wandering closer to her. "Well you see, I was wondering if you were done yet."

"Don't give me that! I know exactly what you're doing!"

The houshi frowned, sitting down near the river bank and setting the book in front of him. "Now why would you jump to conclusions when I've only come to help you. I was nice enough yesterday not to give away such 'delicate' information to our friends, and you treat me like this. I was only wondering if you were interested in a little reading lesson?"

A long period of silence passed between them, the river being the only thing to make a sound. A moment longer and Sango sighed, giving in. "Whatever. If you try anything though, I'll kill you. I mean it this time too. Now, turn around so I can get out."

Miroku reluctantly agreed and turned himself around. He almost turned around seconds later after he heard her exit the river, butmade himself stop. Normally, he wouldn't have a care in the world if he turned around, but he really wanted to help her in case something ever came up. Moments passed and he patently waited, staring at whatever was in front of him. He jumped when he felt a wet hand tap him on the head. Sango's hand.

"Wow, I wouldn't really expect you to stay this way for so long. Good job," she teased, seating herself beside him.

"How do you not know how to read anyway? Did you not have the money for a tutor?"

Sango fixed her legs to where she could press herself against them and smiled lightly. "We could have gotten a tutor for me, but it would be a waste. A demon slayer is only that; a demon slayer. It would be usless to be able to read with a job like that, you know?"

" I see," he said, patting the wet hair she messed up down with his right hand. "Well, I guess that shows me how much you know about it, and that would be...nothing." He knew Sango was staring at him angrily, but it was true, so there was no reason to apologize. "I'm going to teach you something important with these 'books,' alright?" He read them before when he had nothing better to do. Kagome would gladly give him any when he asked for one. "Since this is a picture book, just look at the pictures and tell me what you think is going on, alright?"

"This is stupid," Sango said finally, feeling dumb that she has to read from picture books. She knew they were for small children.

"If you think it's so stupid, why did you agree to let me help you?" That made her quiet. "That's what I thought. Now, tell me what's going on in the front of the book."

Sango sighed lightly and rested the side of her head on her knees. "It's about a fox."

"Obviously-"

"Well YOU asked!"

Miroku laughed a little before he looked at her. "Don't jump to conclusions. I mean what else do you see other than it's JUST a fox. Anything."

She leaned over towards him a little to see the picture. "Well...he seems like he's...sad?"

"That's what I'm looking for," he said with a smile and handing the book to her. "look through it, not at the words, and tell me what you think it's about."

She spent a good while looking back and forth at the pictures. She finally turned it to the first page and took a deep breath. "Well the fox...um...seems to be happy," she turned the page, to show the fox running to a boy. "And he's running to this kid here and the kid's got food in his hand. So I'm guessing the fox is happy because this kid feeds him?"

"Right." Miroku said and turned the page for her.

"And here, it shows the fox waiting in the same place as the last page. There's no kid there, but he's still happy. So...he's waiting for the kid to come feed him?"

"Mm-hm. What about now?" He turned the page again to see the same thing as the last page, but different.

Sango leaned towards the book a minute then stared at Miroku. "The fox is still in the same spot, but he's not happy anymore and the kid isn't there either. Maybe he's not feeding the fox anymore. The fox seems very sad. And on this page," she turned the page now, "he isn't sitting at all, he's laying there. He looks sick...and sad too." The pages were turned again, showing a little girl with the fox in her arms. "And this little girl is...hugging the fox?"

"Not really, she's taking him home," he corrected, pointing at the picture.

"Ooh. And the last page and shows the fox and the girl...and the fox looks better." She closed the book and stared at him.

"That's wonderful. Now you pretty much know the whole story...you still may be confused, but you see, it all fits into place in the book." As his way of 'congradulating' her, his hand automatically reached her bottom and stroked it. The huge smile on his face instantly washed away when a hand smacked angrily against his cheek, knocking him over.

"Why do you do that in the moments you're NOT supposed to?! Kami!" She didn't really mean to smack him that hard, he just really caught her off gaurd this time. " And to think I was begining to like you-to trust you!" Sango's face instantly turned beet red as she looked over at him. He didn't seem to catch he mistake and she heaved a heavy sigh.

After Miroku gained cautiousness, he spent the next two hours teaching her different words from the book, but not in order. "It's best if you read the book outloud, then learning the words along the way," is what he told her.

So as not to be suspiscious, Miroku said he'll go back to camp first and that she should wait ten minutes before coming back too. And it was a good thing too, Kagome asked Miroku how it would take him so long to read a children's book and how it could take Sango so long to take a bath."

"Well, I sort of fell asleep actually," she said with a fake laugh.

Kagome's expression turned serious as she thought to herself. Maybe they were 'together?' The thought made her blush madly and turn around so she wouldn't face them. Leaving Miroku and Sango confused, she quickly dashed off and said that she had to find something, which was obviously a complete lie.

Noticing that no one was really paying attention to them anymore, Miroku looked at Sango with a smile, "Would you like to read the whole thing tomorrow, or wait?" He couldn't help but smile more when her eyes lit up.

"No, I WANT to read it tomorrow! I don't want to wait!" She smiled widely and waited anxiously for the next day to come so she could read the story to Miroku. "I hope he hasn't read it already," she said happily to herself.

The next day went by without any suspiscion and Miroku and Sango met up in the same place as the day before. As they left yesterday, they met by leaving at different times; Sango 'gone to look for something to do' and Miroku 'gone to meditate.'

"You haven't read this before, have you," was Sango's first question before anything started.

Miroku smiled and shook his head, some how having a feeling that she would ask that. "I have not read it."

Sango smiled to herself as she had many times before and plopped down.

"Get comfortable, it will be easier to eat that way."

She nodded and looked around. There were no trees too nearby since they were sitting near a river. She sighed. "Well...I like to lean against trees-"

"Well, then you will have to forget it, I have already made myself comfortable." He was already sitting, his legs crossed, and the book firmly in his lap.

Sango sighed heavily before scooting closer and hesitantly leaning against him, "I'll use you then, so get over it-"

"Already over it," Miroku said with a smug smile. He quickly stared at the book when Sango made a face that said 'keep smiling like that, and you'll have a hole in your head.'

Sango reached over in his lap and pointed at the cover. Taro's hungry? Oh! Taro must be the fox!" She opened it and stared at the first page, going over the words in her head before she said them. "There...there once was a fox named Taro. Taro is a small kit who got lost from his mother." She turned the page to where the fox was running to the boy. She understood how the pictures came into the story now. "Taro never learned to fend for his own, so he relied on a boy named Eiji. Eiji came everyday with a paper bag full of food. But one day," she turned the page, "the boy didn't show up." She kept turning the pages, reading as a normal reader would now, very interested in the story. "and he didn't show up the next day, or the next. And soon, the fox became sick, but he still waited, because he couldn't get food for himself. But one day a small girl came and took the sick Taro home. She fed him and took care of him, and soon he was better again. He lived with the girl until he was old enough to live by himself. The End." She closed the book and looked at Miroku, waiting for a reply.

"Hm...I don't know. Though the story does seem to be perfect for small children, it was very short. Though you can't just live by yourself...not without knowing what to do, right?" He looked down at his shoulder, where she was resting.

"Well...it's just saying, 'don't count on things too much, it won't always be there.' But Taro kept waiting for the boy to feed him instead of just teaching himself how to catch food. I think they just made that girl get the fox because so Taro wouldn't die in a children's book. It's like me," she sat up and stretched, looking at Miroku seriously. "I couldn't read, and I just went on without that ability, and when you offered to help me, I thought you were just going to do all the work, so I was relying on that. But you taught me that I need to do it myself, in order to learn..." her sentence dropped when she noticed Miroku staring at her strangely; it made her blush. "So...yeah...that's what I think."

Miroku smiled and leaned toward her, his arm suddenly resting around her shoulders. "What a smart girl," he said smiling. He was close enough to kiss her until they both heard a shuffle nearby.

Sango snapped out of what was going on and quickly slapped him, knocking him over once more. "W-WHO'S THERE!?" No one emerged, but she knew who it was instantly.

"W-we didn't know you were THAT close to Miroku, Sango-chan," came Kagome's quivering voice as she slowly emerged from the bushes.

Sango noticed that Kagome and the others just now came to spy on them, so they didn't hear or see her reading, just what was about to happen. "It wasn't what you were thinking!!! He came onto ME!!"

"Don't lie to them Sango," Miroku said, standing up with a fake smile on his face, "tell them what we really are to each other."

"WE'RE NOTHING TO EACH OTHER YOU PITYFUL FOOL!!!" Her cheeks flushed as her hand, once more, smacked him across the cheeks; knocking him over once more.