Author's note: I'd like to thank everyone for your feedback on my first two stories. I will be working on a sequel to "Time, Memory, and History" and perhaps also one for "Honto." Hope you enjoy this next one. I had lots of fun writing it!

"What are you doing?"

Miroku looked up, surprised to see Shippou sitting besides him. "Oh, Shippou! You startled me!" Miroku had been sitting on a log on the bottom of a small grassy incline, writing in a book. "I was just… doing a bit of journaling." Shippou peered over at the book in the monk's lap and the pen in his hand. "Those look fancy." Miroku gave the boy a smile. "It was a gift from Kagome-sama. She brought them back from her world."

"You got a gift from Kagome?" The boy looked down sadly. "How come I didn't get a gift from her?" Miroku laughed at him and ruffled his hair. "You always do, Shippou. You just always manage to eat it before the rest of us can see it." Shippou smiled up at him and joined him in his laughter. "I guess you're right, Miroku!"

Meanwhile, Sango had been out looking for Shippou. Kagome and Inuyasha were off on their own after an argument, and the three friends decided that it was best that they be left alone as they reconciled. Sango had taken it to mind to watch after the kitsune in Kagome's place, but he had eluded her. Now, she finally caught up to him and stopped in the distance, spotting him with Miroku.

The taijya gazed upon the two males laughing at a joke that she had not heard. Miroku had his hand on the boy's head and Shippou was looking up at him with admiration. Seeing the two of them interact, Sango blushed a bit as she realized how good of a father the houshi would make. Shaking her blush away, she walked towards the two of them. "Ano, Shippou-kun…."

Shippou and Miroku stopped laughing and looked up at her. "Oh, hi Sango!" Sango noticed that Miroku quickly closed the small book that he had on his lap and placed it within his robes. "Sango," he said, hiding the pen within his robes as well. "Is something wrong?"

Sango recognized the book that Miroku had hid away. Kagome had given her a similar one some time ago. Sango used it mostly to write down poetry, some of the many words that she felt she would never be able to say. She kept it hidden away in her pack and only wrote in it at night, highly doubting that anyone besides Kagome even knew that she had it. She had forgotten about it as of late and doubted that she would even recognize any of her own words. Too many things have been happening lately for her to worry about poetry.

"Nothing's wrong, houshi-sama," she responded quietly. "I was just trying to keep an eye on Shippou, but apparently… apparently he preferred that you be the one to watch over him." She tried not to say the words in an accusing tone, but perhaps Miroku picked up on her emotions, as he usually did. "I am sure that is not the case." He looked down at Shippou. "Why did you run off from Sango?"

As Shippou began to explain that he simply felt the need to run around, Sango stole a quick glance at the monk. His expression remained friendly, but hardened slightly when he questioned Shippou. Almost the way a father will look when he asks a child why he's disrespected his mother. Shocked by her own thoughts, she turned away from them sharply, feeling a strong blush hit her cheeks. "I-it's okay, Shippou-kun. Stay here with houshi-sama, if you wish. I will go back to camp for a while. I am feeling rather tired."

Sango began to walk off, realizing that from behind it must've looked like she was in a rush to leave the scene. In truth, she was. She didn't want to explain to Shippou and Miroku why her cheeks turned a crimson color for what seemed to be no reason at all.

The two males looked at one another. "Was it something I said?" Shippou asked. Miroku shook his head and shrugged. "Well, it is usually something I say, but I do not think that that is the case this time."

The two of them puzzled over this for a moment before falling back into conversation.

Later that night, Sango went off for a trip to the hot springs, leaving Shippou and Miroku alone for a while.

Most of her absence passed uneventfully. Shippou wondered if they should be searching for Inuyasha and Kagome, but Miroku merely smiled and shook his head, feeling in his heart that perhaps Inuyasha was finally doing something right. He didn't say these words to Shippou, for he did not want the boy to ask him some questions that Sango would later reprimand him for answering. As he lay down in a sleeping bag left by Kagome, he chuckled quietly, thinking that Shippou would not be a child forever, and it would be best that he learned as much as he can about the fairer sex as soon as possible.

"Are you going to sleep already, Miroku?" Miroku nodded, stifling a yawn. "I could not sleep last night for some reason. Perhaps I can catch up on some rest tonight." The kitsune nodded at the monk. "Oi, Miroku?"

"Hai?"

"You know that fancy book that you were writing in earlier?"

"Hai."

"What's 'journaling?'"

"Journaling?" Miroku glanced over at Shippou. "It is simply… writing down the events of a day… one's feelings and such."

"Oh," Shippou looked down for a moment, then looked back up at the monk. "Are they private?" With a small knowing smile, Miroku looked up at the sky. "Some of them are." The boy looked down again. "Oh… I was wondering if I could read some while you were asleep…." Miroku's smile twitched, his mind wandering back to some of the things he has written and wondering what Sango and Kagome would think of him allowing a boy so young to read that.

"Perhaps in the morning…." Miroku's voice began to drift away as he found his tiredness overtaking him. "I will… pick out which you can read." The monk took a deep breath and whispered, "Oyasuminasai, Shippou." Getting up and walking into the woods, Shippou whispered the good night back to Miroku.

After some time of walking along and playing with Kirara, Shippou realized that he had journeyed near the hot springs. Hearing a splash, he figured that Sango was nearby. I'm bored, the kitsune decided, noting that Kirara now found interest in a passing butterfly. Miroku's asleep and I don't wanna bug Sango out of her bath…. Stopping behind a bush so he couldn't see anything, he called, "Oi, Sango?" The splashing stopped and was replaced by Sango's concerned voice. "Hai, Shippou-kun? Is something wrong?"

The kitsune shook his head and then realized that she couldn't see him. "No. I'm just… I'm just really bored. Do you think Kagome has any games in her backpack or something?" There was a moment before Sango responded, "I don't know, but I wouldn't advise looking through Kagome-chan's bag without her permission. Check in my bag; I believe I have some of those crayon things that she had given you the last time." Remembering that Sango had offered to hold those for him a while ago, Shippou smiled. "Oh yeah! Thanks, Sango!" Sango added that she would be coming out soon if he wanted her to play with him before bed, but could hear that Shippou had already gone off.

Back at the campsite, Shippou quickly searched through Sango's pack. He found the crayons easily enough, but couldn't find any loose sheets of paper. With an annoyed groan escaping his lips, he finally wrapped his small paws around a book. Taking it out of the bag, he looked at it. Hey… isn't this that fancy notebook that Miroku had? Shippou had not seen the cover of Miroku's, so he wouldn't know that his was black whereas the one in his hand was a deep purple. With mischievous eyes, he gazed over at the sleeping houshi, whose back was turned to him. So Sango stole Miroku's notebook, eh? Then there must be something in here worth reading!

He sat on the ground and opened the book at a random page. Being only a small child, Shippou still had to sound out some of his words. His reading wasn't as good as it could be since he never had the chance to exercise that skill. "If the… if the depths of my love were a r… river…. If the depths of my love were a river, I would most a… as… assuredly…."

"Shippou?" Shippou jumped a bit. He had been reading aloud and Miroku had been awake this whole time! Miroku rolled over and looked at the boy that sat some yards away from him with a book in his lap. "What are you reading?" Scared of getting in trouble, Shippou quickly explained, "Gomen, Miroku! I was looking for some paper to draw on and found your book. I just wondered what it is that you were writing."

Miroku rose to his knees, wiping a little bit of sleep from his eyes as he reached out for the book. "I am disappointed in you. I had thought that you may respect some of my privacy." Seeing the boy's eyes shimmering with regretful tears as he handed him the book, Miroku's expression softened. "Hey now… there is no reason to cry over it. Here." He flipped to the blank pages at the end of the book and ripped out a few sheets of paper, handing them to the kitsune. "There you go. Do with that what you will."

Shippou released a small smile. "Arigato," he said as he accepted the paper. "I'll go draw by the hot springs. Sango said she was gonna come out soon and I don't want to bother you again. Sorry again, Miroku." He scampered off before Miroku had the chance to tell him that it wasn't a bother. He then figured that the boy was probably embarrassed over having been caught peeping through the notebook.

Miroku moved to put the journal back in its place, but felt that his was already there in the secret pocket of his robe, as always. Strange. I must have been too filled with sleep to realize that this could not be mine. Sitting down, he opened it to the page that Shippou had been trying to read from. Having never really seen Sango write anything, he could not recognize her writing and had no way of knowing to whom the journal belonged. Perhaps Kagome-sama owns a book similar to the one she had given me? Satisfying himself with the thought that it must be Kagome's, the monk couldn't help but read through the short poem that was written on the page.

If the depths of my love were a river,

I would most assuredly drown every time his eyes meet mine.

If I was granted eternal life in return for betraying him,

I would sooner thrust myself upon a sword and end my woes right there.

If the lengths of my affection were a desert,

I would be parched every time I hear him utter a sound.

If death is the only way to free him,

I would pray that it would be my death, and not his own.

Miroku blinked at the words on the page. That is… that is beautiful. I had never known that Kagome-sama had such a poetic soul. He noticed that there was much self-torture within each line; the drowning, the suicide, the parched throat, the sacrificial death. Could this truly be the way she feels about Inuyasha? Does she suffer so much internal strife just because she wants him to be happy? After all, she is giving up on her normal life in her land just to come and help him recover the jewel shards. She gains nothing from this, but he gains the chance for revenge against Naraku and to become a full youkai.

The young houshi shook his head in disapproval. How can Inuyasha, after all Kagome had done for him, still claim to desire the blood of a full youkai? Does he not know that it would break her heart? A heart that Miroku has just discovered is ripe with a profound love for this half-breed ingrate? One who possesses such a heart as the writer of these lines did not deserve that blatant disregard for her emotions!

Thinking that he heard voices in the distance carried over by the night breeze, Miroku decided that he would have a talk with Inuyasha in the morning. He quickly removed his own journal from his robes and scribbled down the lines, in order to bring it up to the hanyou the next day. Not knowing where Shippou had gotten the journal from (as Kagome's backpack was still closed), Miroku got up and placed it underneath the bag, then returned to his sleeping bag. Though the words in that notebook stirred him, he drifted off to sleep relatively quickly.

Miroku was already asleep when Inuyasha and Kagome came back to the campsite. The monk had been wrong; Inuyasha was still not doing anything right. He had gone off with Kikyou, and when he saw how angry Kagome was about it, Inuyasha exploded in her face and asked her why such a stupid thing would upset her so much. They had been gone for hours, yes, but most of that time was spent in either begrudging silence as both parties waited for the other to apologize or bursting with angry threats and accusations. They returned to camp far too exhausted to be angry, and declared an unspoken and temporary truce with one another until they regained the energy to fight once more.

Both seeing the sleeping Miroku, they decided to keep quiet and speak only in whispers. "Where's Sango and Shippou?" Kagome wondered aloud. Inuyasha shrugged and leapt onto the lowest bough of a tree, making his way up the branches. "I can still smell 'em, so they ain't too far away." Kagome nodded, accepting Inuyasha's words for the truth, and began searching through her backpack for her hairbrush. Sitting back, she ran the brush through her hair and dropped her eyes, quietly seething at Inuyasha's insensitivity. Her thoughts stopped for a moment when she saw the small book wedged underneath her bag.

Removing it from its place, she immediately recognized it as the journal she had bought for Sango about three months prior. But what is it doing here? She resisted the urge to flip through the pages and instead stood up and walked over to Sango's smaller pack. As she knelt down and returned the book, a thought suddenly came across Kagome's mind. Had someone been reading it? She looked back at Miroku, who was sleeping peacefully. Shippou would have no reason to look through it, that's for sure. But why would Miroku put it with my stuff? Still puzzling over this as she returned to her own sleeping bag, Kagome figured that perhaps he had thought that she would return the book without asking any questions, thus minimizing contact with Sango herself. But that makes no sense… it's not like Miroku ever minded "contact" with Sango-chan.

With a deep breath, the girl laid back into her sleeping bag, falling into a perplexed slumber.