Lies told as Truth

Miroku was grouchy. He had hardly slept last night due to the image of Sago's accusing eyes which had plagued him throughout the night. Her gaze seemed to be etched into his mind. He had spent the rest of the night awake, staring blankly at the hand which the kazaana was beginning to devour. Amazing, he thought, absolutely amazing. In three months this little hole in my hand will devour my entire body as well as anything else near it. The words hung over him like a grim death-sentence. Three months left to live. Three months left to get away from the others.

He trudged along mindlessly, ignoring the blistering, humid heat of the thick forest. He tried to push his grim thoughts to the back of his mind, but such an effort was futile. He tried to forget it, tried to ignore it, but the brutal truth was obstinate and refused to be purged. He faced the fact that he could not avoid. He was dying.

He knew it very well, and it weighed deeply on his soul.

"Hey, Miroku, what's wrong with you?" Inuyasha said as he came up and gave him a hearty pat on the back that sent the monk sprawling, one arm still wrapped around Kikyou's waist.

"I was fine." Miroku said indignantly as he got up and brushed off his robes. "I was perfectly fine until you hit me on the back and sent me flying into the ground."

"Geeze Inuyasha," admonished Shippou as he popped up on Inuyasha's shoulder. "you're such and insensitive jerk. First you make Kagome all angry and then you hurt poor Miroku. What's wrong with you?"

Inuyasha glared daggers at him. "Nothing is wrong with me. I was just wondering why Miroku was brooding like that. Usually you'd expect him to be grouping the nearest female he could find. And, what's the deal with Kagome? I didn't to a thing to her. Her only purpose was a shard detector, and now we don't need her! I mean, we have Kikyou now."

Miroku noticed the slight wince the miko walking by his side gave at that. He also noticed how she whispered something into Inuyasha's ear, going off into the forest. There was an uncomfortable silence while Miroku gave him a flat look. Kagome had never come back after that night. She had never returned to the camp, and Miroku couldn't blame her. They had tried to tell Inuyasha. They had tried to get him to look for her, but he had not cared. All he had done was hold Kikyou with a fierce determination never to let go of her, and insist that Kagome was merely a shard detector and useless anyway. Miroku was beginning to have suspicions. Kikyou seemed to give off an air of guilt, and Miroku knew that Inuyasha's feelings for Kagome ran deeper than that. Something was very wrong. And now Kagome was gone.

Of course, he had caused the whole thing by not only holding as well as kissing Kikyou passionately, but doing it in front of Kagome no less, and after Kagome had been so worried about him too.

Miroku sighed in annoyance. He would never treat Sango like that. He might flit and groupe women but he would never tell another women he loved her in front of Sango. He would never hurt her as deeply as that. Inuyasha was a whole different story entirely. The way he treated Kagome last night made me sick.

Inuyasha pouted. "Hey, it's not my fault that she left. She always overreacts to stuff like that, she needs to calm down a bit. And anyway, like I said, it's not that big of a deal!"

That did it. "Maybe if you weren't such an indecisive asshole she wouldn't leave us like that." Miroku retorted caustically. "You should stop lying to yourself about it. You're the one who continually hurts her. Wouldn't it hurt you if she were always kissing Koga? You get jealous if he so much as speaks to her. You love Kagome, right? Maybe you should show it for once instead of pretending not to care. You make me want to hurl!"

Inuyasha's jaw dropped at Miroku's tirade. "HEY! YOU CAN'T TALK TO ME LIKE THAT! WHO ARE YOU TO TALK! YOU GROUPE WOMEN ALL OF THE TIME! AND ANYWAY, IT'S NOT LIKE KAGOME MATTERS! ALL SHE IS IS A SHARD DETECTOR!"

Miroku's fiery stare grew cold. "Yeah, I suppose I do Inuyasha, but I do it for a reason. There's someone I love and I would do anything for her, and what I do women is my own affair, and I do it for my own reasons." Miroku's cold stare grew even icier. "However, I would never tell another women I love her right in front of her eyes. I am not a disgusting pig like you. And, Inuyasha, Kagome may only be a shard detector to you but to the rest of us she is not only a human being but a friend we love and respect. Remember that."

Then, on a complete emotional overload, Miroku swung his arm around and slammed it into Inuyasha's stomach which sent him flying backwards into a tree. He left a bewildered Inuyasha exchanging glances with and equally bewildered Shippou. "Did you know he could do that?" Shippou asked with wide eyes.

Inuyasha glared at him. "No, I didn't, but you know what Shippou?"

Shippou looked at him with his innocent cuteness. He expected Inuyasha to say that Miroku had been right, because he had been, but then: "He was so wrong. He was wrong. I don't love Kagome. She has no other value than a shard detector. I'm right, right?" He looked questioningly at Shippou.

Shippou looked at him with a blank expression. Then he suddenly transformed into a replica of Miroku, rammed his fist into the spot Miroku himself had just hit and then stomped off into the forest.

Inuyasha looked after him dumbly. "HEY, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR! DAMN IT, GET BACK HERE, THAT REALLY HURT. SHIPPOU? MIROKU? HEY, WHERE DID YOU GUYS GO!?!"

He heard a rustling in the bushes and turned his head to see Sango, who had been bathing in a nearby hot spring the entire time during their whole converstion. "Inuyasha, why are you making so much noise?" she inquired, holding a hand to her head in annoyance.

He blushed profusely. Sango had forgotten to get dressed. "um, Sango? You might want to…" he trailed off, at a loss for words.

Suddenly she noticed and turned a bright red. Then she noticed Inuyasha staring at her with big eyes. A vein in her forehead twitched as her hand clenched up into a fist. "WHY YOU…PERVERT!" She nailed him in the same spot that both Miroku and Shippou had hit earlier.

A few minutes later a very satisfied looking Sango met up with Miroku and Shippou. "Where's Inuyasha?" Shippou asked. "And Kikyou…" he added as an afterthought.

Sango smiled and Miroku shrugged. "Who cares? He can track us, and if not he'll find us in the next village, which is only a few hours away…Kikyou can come with him" Miroku smiled, "A village full of many beautiful, lush young maidens, all ripe for my…" Miroku's eyes grew wide as Sango kneed him in the groin…

"Are you sure it's okay to leave him here Sango?" Shippou asked as they walked off towards the village.

"Yes Shippou, I'm sure he'll be fine."

Author's Note: Please read. Please review. I am beginning shamelessly here!