A/N: Have fun :D
Beta: Cstorm86

The Miko's Notebook

Hojo left the shrine that morning, heading down the mountain road. He was limping a bit from the dog bite he'd received from Kagome's unruly dog. The canine had bit him rather lightly on his calf and according to Kagome wasn't rabid or anything, but Hojo still planned on checking in with his doctor. It was not the dog's fault, it had bit him because it had mistook him as a danger to Kagome, and Hojo was at the same time glad that she had such a protective dog and worried that it could cause trouble for her. He decided to send her some contacts to dog trainers.

The other source of relief for Hojo was the fact that his friend was not alone in the ancient shrine. She had her grandpa and a friend who was staying for a couple of days. And there was this shrine guard guy. Hojo glanced back as he walked and saw the man standing beside Kagome, who waved at him.

Hojo smiled and waved back. The dude was grumpy and a silent type, but he seemed decent enough. He was sure that he wouldn't try anything untoward. It was good to see that his friend was happy in this place so far away from civilization, enjoying nature and following the family tradition.

Overall his visit, albeit short, had been pleasant. He had wandered through the forest, had listened to many legends and even sneaked a peek at Kagome training archery behind the house. Only his dreams had been a bit troubling, full of scary youkai and dark woods. He didn't mind that, after all it was an old shrine and he was visiting for the first time. After hearing so many folk stories it was no wonder his imagination ran wild when he slept.

Hojo made his way down the road, stopping only once, when he passed by Miss and Mrs. Ito walking up the road. They were pleased to see him well, but their talk was short, miss Kaguraya was eager to go visit the shrine.

Soon after Hojo boarded a bus that carried him all the way to the city at the foot of the mountain. He spent the whole travel conversing with an old tanuki, but he never learned that.

.

Kagome waved her hand for the last time as Hojo disappeared behind the road bend.

"Good riddance!" Inuyasha scoffed and uncrossed his arms. "Back to work!"

"One could think that it's you, who runs this place," Sango teased, while Kagome rolled her eyes. "So, give me a task. I can't sit on my hands all day long."

"He's just bossy," Kagome smiled and looked to Sango. "Alright, if you wrestle the broom out of Inuyasha's grasp, you can sweep the shrine grounds."

Sango gave the hanyou a wicked grin and Kagome giggled when the man stepped fluidly behind her. Still giggling, Kagome moved away, pretending to not notice and just walking towards the gift shop to check if it was in order.

She also wanted to add a few small notes to her notebook - she was stashing it there, out of the way, so she could add notes to her writing plans without having to go to the house. Behind her she could hear Inuyasha grumbling that Sango didn't have to fight for the broom, when she swept he could check the shrine roof. Kagome adjusted a few items on display and leaned over the counter to grab her notebook.

The notebook was gone from the counter drawer. Kagome blinked at the handful of pencils and some coins there. She was sure she had put it there last time she had it in her hands...

'Inuyasha?' she called. 'Did you see my notebook? The green one?'

'Nah,' came Inuyasha's immediate, disinterested response.

'Hm. Ir couldn't have been grandpa, since he knew about it and anyway wasn't the last one at the gift shop yesterday. She decided to ask him about it anyway later, for now she went to check the offerings box.

.

Kagome walked out of the storage shed, carrying a box of scented candles. They were almost out of these and she made a mental note to order a new shipping. It was a rather busy day at the shrine, a lot of people came to pray or just hang around. She smiled as she looked around the grounds.

Sango and Hiro were nowhere in sight, but Inuyasha was near the torii gate, a trash bag in his hand. He had his straw hat on, shielding his ears from sight, but also his face from sunlight. It was getting pretty warm and humid lately.

Kagome's smile faded a bit when she saw what stopped the hanyou from taking the bag out of the shrine grounds and to the designated place.

It was a girl. A very pretty young woman, dressed in a dark blue yukata adorned with small orange and yellow flowers. She was smiling at Inuyasha, talking to him, her eyes practically glued to his face as he replied in his usual short sentences, playing cool.

Kagome felt a pang of jealousy as she watched them and immediately berated herself for that. Inuyasha had the right to talk to people - pretty women included. He wasn't her boyfriend or anything, and even if he had been he still would have the right to interact with other women.

Still, Kagome wondered what they were talking about. She couldn't see his face from this angle, but the woman's smile was radiant as she waved a hand at something he said, the gesture graceful and elegant. Did he like her? Was she an old friend of his? Maybe now, free from the ancient commands of her predecessors, he wanted to start a family? She couldn't forbid him to be happy. She should be glad that he was finally treated like a person, that he could have a life outside of the shrine.

The shrine guardian scoffed at something the woman said, waved a hand and walked away, the woman looking after him longingly for a moment before she herself walked towards where a group of middle-aged women were chatting.

Kagome couldn't stop a tiny smile to appear on her face. Inuyasha could have talked to the woman, but it looked like it was the woman who had a crush on him, not the opposite.

The miko glanced towards the girl, feeling a sense of camaraderie with her. She knew the feeling.

It was late afternoon when Kagome remembered about the notebook. She and grandpa were leading the townspeople who were going to help coordinate the festival to the gate, after their meeting. Grandpa was chatting with his old friends, most of them around his age, while Kagome was a bit awkward. She was going to get to know this community and form close friendships, the shrine needed people like them to organize the festivals, but she was still new to it all. They were friendly, some of them maybe a bit patronizing or stubborn in their old ways, but she was only mildly irritated by that. As they were walking back home, Kagome remembered the notebook and went to check out for it again. Maybe it was in another drawer? Leaving her grandpa to go to the house, Kagome walked to the gift shop and opened the same drawer, then blinked at , spare change.

Her notebook, back where it should be.

She picked it up and frowned. It didn't look any different than usual, there was no youki on it, indicating a mischievous entity playing tricks on her. Well, she shrugged, at least it was not lost. With it in hand Kagome went home to prepare the dinner, with Sango's help.

It was only when, a couple of hours later, Kagome finally sat at her laptop to write a bit before sleep - a habit that she had since she'd started writing, did she open the notebook.

And stared at it.

It was her handwriting, short notes, bits of descriptions, character backstories, all the good stuff.

And, on the margins, in a different handwriting, were notes.

Kagome was too stunned to even shriek in outrage at someone writing notes in her notebook. She glared at the unknown handwriting - it was steady and really pretty. She wasn't sure who was the culprit, but she was going to find out and tell that person what she thought about their addition. It was not Hojo's hand. It was too small in size for her grandfather, too neat for Inuyasha's - the hanyou wrote with the same hand he swung punches. Sango would've never taken her notebook to write in it.

Frowning, Kagome sat back on her pillow at the low table and went through the notebook, reading the foreign notes. They were short and kind in tone, pointing out some cheesy descriptions and inconsistencies.

Kagome bit her lip and sighed. It was some unknown and uncalled for feedback, but feedback nonethe less, so she decided to heed the notes. And find a new place to stash her notebook.

A/N: Oh no, someone gives Kagome feedback! Who may it be? And there's a girl crushing on Inuyasha! What's going to happen now?