Unable to sleep, Miroku got up and decided to take a late-night walk to clear his mind. Stepping out of Kaede's hut, he started down the path towards a nearby spring; the sound of flowing water has always made it easier for him to relax and think more clearly.
As he approached the spring, he saw a figure sitting on the edge of the bank. Coming closer, he recognized it was Sango. There was so much he wanted to tell her, but he was afraid of what she might say. Treading closer, Miroku realized that this may be his only chance to express his feelings towards her and learn the truth about her relationship with Inuyasha.
Stepping up to her, he gathered up his courage and spoke. "Hello, Sango. What are you doing up?"
She jumped as if he startled her and turned to face him. "Oh. Hi, houshi-sama. I was having trouble sleeping. What about you?"
"Same here," stated Miroku. He sat down beside her. Uneasily, he looked down at his entangled hands and back up at Sango. "Uh… listen, Sango, we have to talk."
"What? What is it, Houshi-sama? Are you hurt?"
"No, nothing of the sort. Yeah. Well…" he started, obviously nervous about what he had to tell her. He decided to go straight to the point. "I just wanted to know how you felt about me."
Sango gave him a puzzled look. "What do you mean?" She then smiled. "You already know that I think of you as a wayward monk with a wandering hand. But, I also think of you as a friend."
"Yes, yes, I know that," he replied. "What I mean is what do you think of me beyond that."
She just blinked at him. "Houshi-sama, I have never thought of you in that way." She looked over at Miroku in time to see a dejected expression flash across his face. Feeling regretful, she explained, "With all this fighting, and Naraku, and the loss of my family, I haven't had time for a relationship."
Miroku put on his usual smirk, but this one was devoid of its typical humor. "But you have time for Inuyasha." He lowered his eyes to slits; he hated the sound of that name.
'Does he know?' she thought. 'He cant know. We've been so careful.' She decided to act stupid. "Huh? What are you talking about?"
Miroku let out a dry laugh. "Sango, don't play dumb with me. I saw the two of you. In the woods 'training', as you both put it so nicely."
Sango froze. 'Did he actually see us? If he did, how much did he see?' Her thoughts were racing through her head as she tried to come up with a response.
"I… I don't know what you mean," she finally choked out.
That humorless smirk never left his face. "Of course you do, Sango. I saw you and Inuyasha in the clearing yesterday. You need not lie to me." His expression changed to a more melancholy one. "Why did you go to him when you already knew how I felt about you?"
Sango got up and turned away from him, unnerved at the fact that her and Inuyasha's little secret was found out. "It just happened, Miroku. I don't know how, but it did."
Miroku stood and walked in front of her so he can face her and look into her eyes. "How long?" he requested.
Sango looked down, avoiding his eyes. "It started over two months ago. It was the night of the new moon and I couldn't sleep so I decided to take a walk along this spring. I spotted Inuyasha in his human form sitting on a rock along the bank. I thought that something was wrong, so I went to see if he was okay and that was when we started to talk. And talk. And pretty soon, I realized what a nice person he is and how tenderhearted he can really be.
"After that night, we slowly drifted closer and things started to get a little serious. We had already decided that it would be better for the group if we kept our relationship a secret; the last thing we wanted was for things to get awkward. I mean, it wasn't like something that was supposed to happen. It just did."
Miroku turned away, feeling betrayed. 'It's been going on that long and I didn't know anything about it?' He felt as if his heart was crushed. "I understand, Sango." He turned and started walking back towards the hut.
"Wait, Miroku!" called Sango. He stopped. "Just… please don't tell the others about us, especially Kagome. She is a good friend to me and I'd hate to lose her trust."
"Don't worry, Sango, my lips are sealed," he replied as he continued walking to the hut.
------
The next day, the crew was walking along a path towards the next village. Lagging back, Miroku watched as Inuyasha and Sango walked together with Kagome not to far behind, oblivious as to what was going on between the two. However, she did notice that Miroku had been oddly quiet. She slowed down and fell into step with him.
"What's wrong?" she asked, concerned. He ignored her, staring ahead as if he was deep in thought.
"Hello?" Kagome said, waving a hand in front of his face.
"Huh?" he responded.
"You seem troubled. What's wrong?"
He glared at the back of Inuyasha's head. Miroku contemplated telling Kagome Inuyasha's little secret, but he remembered that it was also Sango's secret and he promised her that he wouldn't speak a word of it. "It's nothing, Kagome. Why do you say that?"
"Well, you've been shooting death-glares at everyone since last night and you haven't said a word to either Inuyasha or Sango. So what's up?
'This girl is too observant sometimes,' thought Miroku. "Really Kagome, it is nothing."
Kagome looked ahead to the two walking in front of her. 'I wonder what happened between them to make Miroku act like that?' she thought. She watched as Inuyasha and Sango talked, occasionally breaking out into silent peals of laughter. She looked over at Miroku, who was shooting daggers of ice at them with his eyes. The look on his face was very similar to… was it jealousy? What could make him so jea—
Realization dawned on Kagome's face as she turned her gaze back to the snickering couple in front of her. 'No. It couldn't be. Could it?' She watched as Inuyasha chatted with Sango animatedly, feeling a twinge of jealousy herself. 'But Sango's my friend, and Inuyasha… It's just a silly thought. It can't be true."
Or can it?