Chapter 3

It was after sunset a few days later and the squad had stopped to make camp. Shippou and Kelala were off playing together and Miroku was staring into the dying embers of a once roaring flame. As soon as the flames started to subside, Inuyasha and Sango suddenly had to go off to 'get more firewood'. It has been over an hour since they left and Miroku was obviously seething.

Kagome's revelation has been bothering her ever since it came into her mind. She wanted to confirm this silly notion of Inuyasha and Sango being together, but she couldn't find the right way or time to make such a suggestion. Should she ask them? No, that would probably end up with them denying it; besides, they were always off together. She thought of asking Miroku, since his deadly silence suggested he already knew.

Kagome sat down across from Miroku. She was unsure as to whether she should bring the topic up; he still looked pretty pissed. She decided to go ahead and ask.

"Uh, Miroku?" she said.

He looked up at her. "Yes, Kagome?"

"Do you know if Inuyasha and Sango have been seeing each other like… you know… a couple?"

"Uh… no," he lied, wondering if she had found out about them. "What would make you think that?"

"I was just wondering, with them always being gone and whatnot, and with the way you've been acting towards them."

'Damn, she found out.' He sighed. 'Poor thing. She deserves to know the truth about Inuyasha; she adores him. Why, I don't know.' "Alright, yeah. I know about them."

"How long have they been seeing each other?" she asked.

Miroku sighed again. 'I shouldn't be telling her this.' "Well, um…" he stalled. "They have been seeing each other for over two months now.

"What!?" Kagome exclaimed. She had no idea that this was going on right beneath her nose. She refused to believe it. 'This cant be true. Inuyasha loves me, I just know it!' she thought, denying what she herself knew to be real.

"Are you sure this is true?"

"Yes, Kagome," Miroku said, gravely, noticing the denial on her face. "I'm positive."

"When did you find out?" she prodded, hoping that the monk had not been holding out on information this important for long.

"A few days ago, right after you came back from your time," he said. "While I was looking for firewood, I found them kissing in a clearing. I saw their weapons strewn across the ground, and automatically, I thought something was wrong. Boy, was I in for a surprise. "

"I thought they were training," murmured Kagome.

"That's what I thought too, but apparently, they weren't." he replied, still staring at the smoldering cinders.

Kagome recalled the day she came back to this era. She remembered the cold greeting Inuyasha presented her with and the way he treated her with indifference. At that time, she was thinking that she might have gotten on his bad side, but now she was certain that wasn't it. 'He doesn't want me anymore.' She realized to herself.

"Inuyasha…" murmured Kagome, hurt beyond belief. Ever since she had the idea that he was with Sango, she was hoping that her thoughts would be proven wrong. Kagome blinked away the tears as she imagined what could have been with him. 'How could he cheat on me like that?' she thought to herself.

Then, other visions swirled through her thoughts. Visions of Kikyo. She remembered that Inuyasha always went back to Kikyo, no matter how many times she had tried to kill him. It was then that Kagome realized that Inuyasha had never really loved her, that she was just a mere shard detector to him.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Kagome looked up at Miroku, who also seemed to be thinking about this situation. This whole time, she hadn't thought of how he felt. Not too long ago, she was thinking on how close Miroku and Sango had gotten; now she knows how wrong she was.

Miroku's face was filled with so much longing that Kagome couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for him. He had lost some of his steam since a few days ago and he seemed a little depressed. She no longer saw him as the lying, thieving, perverted monk, but she saw him as a poor individual in need of a friend's comfort. And she happened to be a friend.

She scooted up beside him. "Miroku?"

"Hmmm?" he answered, startled from his daze.

"Are you okay?" she said, a worried tone in her voice.

He looked up at her and smiled that beautiful smile that Kagome hasn't seen for days. "Of course. Why, should something be wrong?"

"You look a little down," she answered.

"Yeah. Well, its kinda my fault," he said.

"What are you talking about?" said Kagome, puzzled.

"I never told her how I felt. Besides, I think my incessant groping drove her away."

Kagome smiled a little and nodded. She always felt uneasy when it came to talking about relationships, but somehow she felt comfortable talking to Miroku about it. "Don't feel bad, I've told Inuyasha how I felt about him plenty of times, but he still pushes me aside." She sniffed as she fought the tears that tried to fall again. 'I can't believe I ever had feelings for that asshole,' she thought. 'I wonder if there's something about me that guys just don't like. Yeah, sure, there's Hojo, but he's kinda weird and—'

"Kagome, there's nothing wrong with you," said Miroku, softly. Was she thinking out loud? "You're fine just the way you are. Anyone who can't see that is a blind fool."

'He always knows the right thing to say,' Kagome thought. She finally saw that Miroku had always been there for her, especially after she and Inuyasha had been in a fight. Looking at him now, she saw the same caring Miroku that she ignored while chasing that stupid hanyou around.

"Look at me, I'm trying to cheer you up and I end up talking about myself again," she said, sniffling and wiping away tears.

"It's okay, Kagome," answered Miroku kindly, enclosing her in a warm embrace. "We all need a chance to express our feelings."

Kagome looked up at him and smiled. He looked down at her with a soft expression on his face, one she couldn't name. She felt surprisingly comfortable in his arms; she could have stayed there forever. Because of that, Kagome didn't fight him when he dipped his head to kiss her.