Chapter 1

It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon and the gang was out relaxing by Bone Eater's Well. Inuyasha and Sango were off training in the forest and Miroku was meditating in the shade of a large tree by the well. Shippou was drawing some colorful scene with the crayons that Kagome had given him.

It had been over a week ago when Kagome said she was going home for only two days. Oddly enough, Inuyasha seemed to be handling Kagome's extreme lateness pretty well; he didn't threaten to go back to get her or even seem anxious for her to come back.

Suddenly, a flash of blue light came from the well and a big yellow bag was pushed out of its top.

"Hi guys!" said Kagome as she leapt from the well. Startled out of his deep meditation, Miroku just stared at her as an orange blur came out of nowhere and attacked Kagome, sending her flying to the ground.

"What the— Shippou?!" she exclaimed. She tried to get up but he tackled her again with a hug. "Kagome, you're back! What happened? Why did you take so long? Did you bring any candy?" The little kitsune was full of questions and was quickly spewing them out at her.

"Whoa, Shippou, let's not bombard her with questions yet," said Miroku as he casually walked over to them. "I bet Inuyasha has plenty."

"Speaking of Inuyasha," Kagome said, rising to her feet and dusting herself off. "Where is he?"

"He went to go train with Sango," replied Shippou as he dug into her bag, desperately searching for candy.

Kagome scratched her head in confusion. "That's weird. Usually, he can't wait to chew me out for being so late. Do you think Inuyasha is okay?"

"Come to think of it, he has been acting kinda strange lately," said Miroku. "He was actually calm, for once."

"Do you think we should go and tell them that I'm back?"

"No, they should be back soon. Besides, we should get dinner ready. I'm starved."

"That sounds like a good idea," answered Kagome.

"I'll go get some firewood," Miroku said, walking off into the forest.

As Kagome and Shippou were getting the food ready, Miroku meandered through the forest, thinking about how it was such a beautiful day, watching the sun set through the trees. He could not remember the last time he was able to stroll through the forest without a care in the world as he was doing now. With their last battle having been almost two weeks ago, before Kagome had left, he and the rest of the gang had had an abundance of time to chill and do as they wished. As relaxed as he was, he was not able to process the sight that was before him.

Up ahead, in a small clearing, he noticed that both Hiraikotsu and Tetsusaiga had been tossed aside. Looking around to see if his friends were in danger, Miroku soon spotted both Inuyasha and Sango not too far away. In an embrace. That involved kissing. Passionate kissing.

Shocked, he gasped and looked on with an unhinged jaw, too stunned to move. 'But, Sango…' he thought, a little hurt, as he watched the horrifying scene before him.

Just then, they stopped and Inuyasha looked around, scanning the woods as if he heard Miroku's gasp. 'Oh no, they spotted me!' he thought as he dashed back through the woods, unmindful of the amount of noise he was making.

"What's wrong?" asked Sango, looking up at Inuyasha.

"I heard something," he growled, ears twitching like malfunctioning satellite dishes. "I bet it was that stupid bouzu."

"Calm down, Inuyasha," she said soothingly, rubbing his ears affectionately. "They think we're training. Besides, it's not like they know where we are anyway."

"You're right," said Inuyasha. "Maybe I am overreacting just a bit. Do you think we need more training?"

"You bet," answered Sango with a smile. They resumed their 'training'.

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"Hmm, I wonder where Miroku went?" wondered Kagome. She and Shippou were done gathering the stuff for dinner, but they couldn't cook anything without the firewood that Miroku was supposed to be collecting. It had been over an hour since he left and they had gotten really bored.

"He probably got lost like he did yesterday," said Shippou, stretched out on a large patch of warm sun. "He went out for a bath and didn't come back for hours. We thought he was in trouble, but it turned out he just slipped on a rock and somehow knocked himself out. What a klutz."

Just then, Miroku appeared with a small pile of firewood. "Here," he said, dropping the pile into the small fire pit. He seemed a bit removed, and maybe a little pale.

"What's wrong, Miroku?" asked Kagome. "You don't look so hot."

"It's… uh, nothing. I'm just a little hungry, I guess. Lets just get dinner started."

"Did you see the others?" asked Kagome.

"I most certainly did not!" he replied quickly, and perhaps a little nervously. "I have no idea where they are or what they could be up to!"

"Yeesh. You sure he didn't lose anything when he hit his head?" Kagome muttered to Shippou.

Miroku ignored this comment and went to start the fire. 'How could she do this to me; she knew how I felt…' Miroku thought as he struck two pieces of flint together to make sparks that died in the kindling. 'And that damned Inuyasha… Is the fool too blind to see that Kagome loves him? Why would he go after Sango?' A couple more clicks, and a healthy blaze was born.

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Miroku stared into the leaping flames; the sun had already set and the flames covered him in an eerie glow. 'How long has this been going on…' he pondered. He looked up at the sound of twigs breaking and leaves rustling to see Inuyasha and Sango emerge from the woods.

"Kagome, you're back!" said Sango. Inuyasha didn't say a word.

"Hi, guys," said Kagome cheerily. She glanced at Inuyasha, who seemed not to notice she was there. "Are you mad at me, Inuyasha?" she asked tentatively.

"No, wench," he responded. "Would you rather me yell at you for being late?"

"Well… uh, yeah… I mean it's not like you to be so… quiet," she replied.

"Yeah, well I am, wench! Do you have a problem with it?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. SIT BOY!!!" Inuyasha did an immediate faceplant. Miroku snickered at the impact.

"Well, I guess he's back to his old self," murmured Shippou.

Or was he?