Disclaimer: Don't own nothing. Phooey.

Chapter 1 Leaving Home and the First Encounter

"So, you're really moving away?" A pretty young girl asked the boy sitting next to her. They were sitting on the school steps, waiting for their ride, with their spirits down about the news.

"Yeah. Tomorrow." He said sadly, looking at the ground. He couldn't believe this was happening to him.

Miroku Houshi, the playboy of Shikon High School, was completely blown away when his uncle told him two days ago he would be moving to an old monastery that was the inhabited (or infected) with monks-in-training. Apparently, his uncle didn't think the environment he was living in now was good enough for a monk-to-be. That's exactly what he told his best friend forever, Kagome Hirgurshi.

"Actually," Kagome said giggling when he told him that, "I can see why he would want you to move away from school. There's too many girls here!"

"Okay, so they prove to be a little distracting." He said as he eyed two seniors in very, VERY short skirts. "But where I'm going, there won't be a woman for miles! I'll be living in an isolated area with a bunch of men! " He shivered at the thought. "How could he do that to me?!"

"Oh, poor baby." Kagome teased. She wanted to lighten Miroku's mood a little, even though inside she was just as a sad as him. They had been best friends since forever, and Kagome couldn't think of what she would do without him.

They were interrupted when a annoying little girl in a way to short of a skirt and a tight fitting shirt ran up to Miroku and threw her arms around him.

"Wahhh!" She cried, putting her head into his shoulder. "I just heard you were moving away!" She screeched in his ear.

"Koharu, it's okay." He said, patting her back, moving his hand closer and closer to her backside. He raised his eyebrows as his eyes reached Kagome's, who just shrugged her shoulders. They were both thinking the same thing. 'How the heck did she find out so fast?'

"You mean, you're not really moving?" She asked slowly, lifting her head.

"Well, no, I am. But I mean, we can still date and stuff." He told his on again, off again girlfriend. They've been dating since the beginning of High School, and Miroku didn't want to go off to a monk sanctuary without a girlfriend.

"Really?" Koharu sniffed up the tears, a with a lost puppy dog look on her face. "Okay!"She said brightly, pecking him on the lips before running off to tell her friends she was still dating the one of the most popular boys in school. Kagome faked a gag, while Miroku watched her skip down the sidewalk in her short skirt.

"She is so superficial!" Kagome told Miroku, after Koharu was well out of hearing distance. "I don't know how you can stand being with her."

"Oh, I have my reasons." Miroku said with a perverted grin plastered on his face. Kagome playfully hit him on the head, though harder than usual with her books. She knew he was all talk, and that he had never actually been with a girl like that before. But unfortunately, having a boy as a best friend, this was a usual occurrence.

"There's your mom." Miroku said, snapping Kagome out of her thoughts while throwing his book bag over his shoulder. She grabbed her books, and quickly followed him.

Miroku lived right across the street from Kagome's shrine, and so on some days Kagome's mom would pick them up and drive them home so they wouldn't have to ride their bikes down the busy streets. He's lived there ever since his parents died in a car crash when he was little, and he had to move in with his old uncle. Since both of his uncle and his father where monks, that didn't really leave Miroku much of a choice on what he wanted to do with his life.

Don't get him wrong, though. He liked being a monk. Sometimes. It's just he wasn't sure that was what he really wanted to do.

And with this new move in his life, he really didn't think he wanted to be a monk. How could his very own flesh and blood do that to him? It wasn't just the girls he was going to miss. He had his friends, his life, his hair. And of course, there was Kagome, his best friend.

They've known each other since he had moved across the street from her, and that was probably why he didn't see her as a girl he would date. She's always been more like a younger sister than anything else, considering he was a whole year older than her, and he was the protective older brother. He didn't especially like the looks Kagome got from guys when they went to school, and he really didn't like that one guy. Hobo, was it? Hoto? It was something like that. He couldn't remember.

The car ride home was mostly quiet, with just polite greetings and charming remarks as Miroku complemented Mrs. Hirgurshi the whole way home. Kagome was used to the way Miroku acted around adults. She referred to him as a snake, as he could charm his way into anything, and anyone.

"When are you leaving tomorrow?" Kagome asked Miroku, as she walked him to his front door when they arrived at there houses.

"Early in the morning. Before you wake up. We have to leave early, if we want to get there before dark."

"Oh." Kagome said, her spirits lowering. She was hoping to get a last good- bye before going to school.

"Don't worry." Miroku told her, giving her a reassuring smile. "I'll come back and visit."

"Will you be there for my birthday?" She said, hopefully. It wasn't that she wanted a present from him or anything, it's just that they had spent every birthday together since he had moved here, and her birthday wouldn't feel the same if he wasn't there.

"I'll try to get out. If I have to, I'll run away from that place just to get here." He winked at her.

Kagome smiled. "Thanks, Miroku." They reached the steps that went to Miroku's house. Neither of them moved, not wanting to leave because they knew it would be a long time before they saw each again. Probably not even for a whole month, since Kagome was turning 15 years old then.

"Well..." Miroku started, staring at the ground.

"Well... Bye." Kagome said, giving him a last hug before running in the opposite direction. She really didn't want him to leave, but she REALLY didn't want him to see her cry. He wouldn't let her live it down.

Miroku sighed, and walked up the steps to his house. His legs felt heavy, as he dreaded tomorrow, when he would be leaving. 'My life can't get any worse.' He thought, as he opened his door to face his drunk uncle yet again, and pack for the long day tomorrow.

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'My life is trash.' Miroku thought miserably, as he trudged trough the thick mud, shivering as more rain seeped through his heavy robes that seemed to be permanently stuck to his body. He didn't know that there was no roads to this sacred monastery, and they're had to walk about half the way there after the roads ended. He followed behind a whole group of monks, who came to greet him at the road. They didn't actually talk to him, though. Really, they just bowed their heads to him and turned to walk away. Only the one they called 'Father Rei' actually talked to him, and he thought it was only because he had to.

So now, Miroku was walking the ten miles left to the monastery on foot, in the rain, uphill, and it was already turning dark. He was going to have some real fun here.

"Okay, let's stop for camp." Father Rei said to the monks. They took of the heavy looking sacks they were carrying off, and some tent poles.

Miroku groaned out loud. 'Great. Just great.'

Another, younger looking monk came over to him. "We can share a tent." He said, giving him a friendly smile. Miroku was going to smile back, but his mouth wouldn't stretch that far. He was happy to see this monk seemed to have all his hair.

"My name's Yokata."

"I'm Miroku."

"Yeah, I know. We've been waiting for your arrival for a while. There hasn't been any new people since I got here 6 months ago."

Miroku nodded, too tired to make conversation. So he just stayed quiet and helped set up the tent, while Yokata did all the talking. He told him about all the monk teachers and what rules they each had. He seemed pretty cool, and Miroku was glad he had at least one friend here.

"So your not use to this walking around stuff, huh?" Yokata said, snapping Miroku out of his trance.

"What? Oh, no, I don't really walk around much."

Yokata shook his head. "Well, that's going to change. All we ever do is walk places. I think they don't have anything for us to do, so they tell us to walk to the next building for a pointless task just to waste time."

Miroku groaned out loud. Great. That was just what he needed.

After many fumbling attempts (mostly on Miroku's part) they finally got a safe, semi-sturdy tent up.

By then, Miroku couldn't move at all. He had never been more tired than that moment. As soon as the tent was built, he went inside, and fell on the sleeping bag. Yokata was still talking.

"So we have about 5 more miles to go, and Rei said we were going to start early in the morning. Good-night!"

'How can he be so cheerful?' Miroku wondered, to tired to actually do anything about him. The next instant, he couldn't do anything at all. He closed his eyes, and fell into the most peaceful sleep he had ever had.

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It was deathly quiet now, since the rain had stopped, and it was still dark outside.

Miroku shot up suddenly. He wasn't having a nightmare or anything; in fact, he didn't even know why he awoke from his sleep. It was so peaceful, and he was so out of it.

So why did he wake up?

Miroku shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Something must've made a noise outside that had woken him up. He had always been a light sleeper and usually, under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have fallen asleep so quickly and easily.

He got up, seeing that Yokata was still snoring, and decided he would go check outside on his own.

When he got outside, he thought that maybe he had imagined the whole thing. There was no sound at all outside, and as far as he could tell, nothing was out there there could have made a sound.

But he felt......... something that he couldn't describe. Like a kind of tingle in his mind that told him something, or someone was out there. And he had to know what it was.

He walked out of the clearing, and into the dark woods, following the strange feeling he had. It was like leading him to something, something he had to find.

He walked for what seemed like forever, until he found in another small clearing. His breath caught in his throat when he saw what was in front of him.

A shimmering mist, in the shape of a girl, stood over a small patch of wild flowers. Her skinny body was hunched over them, and seemed to be picking them up. She was projecting some kind of glowing light, and Miroku found he couldn't turn away.

She was beautiful.

His throat made a small noise, as he was trying to find his voice, and the glistening girl turned around. A look of panic held her face.

But all Miroku could see was her. Her eyes large and bright on her small face. He was completely enchanted by her beauty.

The girl drew back for a second, and then turned around and ran in the opposite direction. Miroku snapped out of it, and found his voice.

"Wait!" He screamed, as he chased after her. He ran faster than ever, as he tried to keep up with the shimmering goddess.

"I just want to talk to you!" It was no use. Miroku didn't have a chance of catching her. She was faster than anything he had ever seen before.

After running for as long as he could, he stopped to catch his breath. When he looked up, she was already out of sight. It was like she was never there.

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"So," Miroku started out the next morning as they rolled up the tent. "Have you ever seen a spirit?" He decided to just come out and ask Yokata.

He had gotten back to his tent late that night, and fell into an uneasy sleep, not sure what to think about the ghost-spirit thing he had saw. He awoke this morning wondering if he had dreamed the entire thing, and it didn't actually happen. He still wasn't sure.

"Me? Well, not yet. You have to be very in tune with the earth and stuff, I think. Father Rei had seen a couple spirits before, though." He looked thoughtful for a second. "Yeah, in fact I think there's a spirit right now visiting the monastery. Father Rei said he was picking up light trances of a spirit, but he hasn't actually seen it yet."

He continued telling of all the spirits that had been seen at the monastery, but Miroku wasn't listening.

He broke off of Yokata in mid-sentence, and ran to Father Rei, who had just finished packing up his tent. He gave Miroku a small smile.

"Well hello, Miroku. I hope you sleep well last night."

"Uh, yeah. It was fine." Miroku wasn't sure how to approach this guy. He gave off such a creepy vibe. "I was just wondering if you or anyone else.......... uh.........sensed anything last night?"

Father Rei looked at Miroku like a parent looking at a child who had just said stated the obvious. Like he was inferior to him. "No, my child, I did not feel anything." His eyes narrowed at Miroku, untrusting. "Did you feel something?"

"What, me?" Miroku said, trying to look innocent. "Oh, no, I just wanted to know because.........uh, I heard that these woods were haunted, and I wanted to know if it was true."

Father Rei's faced went back to the same, uneasy calm look he had before. He bought it. "You can't always believe what you hear, my child."

Miroku ws tired of this guy treating him like a stupid child. "Uh, yeah, I guess not. Well, bye." With that, he ran back to Yokata, who was staring at him with wide eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me you felt something?" He asked urgently.

"What! How did you know?"

Yokata smiled. "News travels around hear fast. So what happened?"

Miroku shook his head, smiling to himself. 'These guys move faster than the girls at Shikon High!' Out loud, he told Yokata of how he encountered the spirit the night before.

When he finished, Yokata held an expression of awe and excitement. "Wow."

"Yeah, but you have to promise not to tell anyone. I don't want them to know. Promise?" Miroku asked, hoping he could trust this guy.

Yokata smiled. "Sounds like you want this chick all to yourself."

Miroku was taken back. "What?! No, it's not like that. You see.........." He fumbled over his words.

Yokata laughed, slapping Miroku hard on the back. "I'm just joking with you. You have my word."

Miroku breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to, and if they find out I can sense spirits, I might never leave!"

Yokata laughed again, throwing the heavey looking tent over his shoulder. "You're a weird one. Come on, let's go."

Miroku followed him, as he took one last look around him. 'We'll meet again.' He thought, smiling to himself. 'I know it.'

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Whew! My third fic has begun! I'm really excited about this one. It's going to be fun to write, since I can make some of the people use modern lingo in past time. That was what was killing my first fic, because I wanted Sonnet to say stuff that couldn't be said in that time. Well, I'll get started on the next chapter soon!

****Don't forget to review!!!!!!!****

Next chapter:

Miroku hears a story about the monastery's past, and meets the spirit once again