Chapter 4

Kagome melted as she felt Miroku's lips gently caress hers. Slowly, he deepened the kiss and he smiled a little when she whimpered. 'What am I doing?' he asked himself, pulling away. "I'm sorry, Kagome," he apologized. "I… I don't know what came over me."

He closed his eyes and braced himself for the impact of the slap that he knew was coming for him. Time passed and nothing came. He opened an eye and peeked at the dazed Kagome.

She gazed up at him vaguely, absentmindedly touching her fingers to her lips. 'What is she thinking about?' thought Miroku, opening his other eye. She moved forward and resumed the kiss that he just broke off. He stopped thinking and focused on the task at hand.

He ran his tongue across her lips and she moaned when he dipped it inside her mouth, wrestling with her own. Kagome placed her arms around his neck as his snaked around her back, one hand reaching up to entwine in her hair as the other slowly shifted downward to its inevitable destination.

Within seconds, they were sprawled on the ground. Miroku moved his mouth from Kagome's to the crook of her neck, leaving a trail of hot kisses. Kagome reached up and pulled his hair out of its usual ponytail, playing with the silky strands that ran through her fingertips. She sucked in air as he nipped at her skin, his hands roaming all over her body. She raked her nails through his hair as she felt a hand slowly slide up her thigh, steadily creeping upwards, and then—

They jumped at the sound of rustling bushes not too far away. They both stood up and Miroku reached for his staff, half expecting a demon to leap out of the bushes at them.

It turned out it was a demon, well sort of. Inuyasha emerged from the bushes with a small bundle of logs in his hands. He inspected the two in front of him. "What the hell were you two doing?" he said.

Miroku and Kagome glanced at each other. They did indeed look like a mess. Kagome's clothes were dusty and disheveled and her hair was tousled; there were red marks slowly becoming visible on her neck. Miroku didn't look much better; the dust was more prominent against his dark indigo robes and his hair was no longer in its typical little ponytail, thanks to Kagome.

After examining each other, they both turned back to Inuyasha. "Well, Inuyasha," Miroku explained as he coolly dusted himself off, trying his best to sound smooth. "We were just, uh… sitting here, merely conversing, when a, uh…—"

"A demon came out of nowhere!" finished Kagome.

"Yes!" exclaimed Miroku, relieved that she caught on to his plan. With a puzzled expression on his face, Inuyasha glanced from Miroku to Kagome, then back to Miroku. "It was a huge flying demon… with large wings… and uh, very sharp talons." Miroku glanced upwards and saw a bird soaring up high. "Come to think of it, it resembled a falcon. Do you know if there are any falcons in this region? Because in my travels, I have come across many different species of birds and—"

"Get to the point, monk," growled Inuyasha, aware that Miroku was trying to change the subject.

"Ah yes, the demon," he resumed, stalling. "Well, upon arrival, it demanded the jewel shards. When we resisted, it dove at us several times. It was hard work dodging it; we had to duck for cover every time it came down. I deflected several hits, but when Kagome got a hold of her bow and arrows and shot a couple at it, it fled. I guess it wasn't that dangerous, huh?"

"A 'falcon demon', eh?" said Inuyasha skeptically. "Why is it that I don't smell any demon, much less a 'falcon demon'?"

"I-it happened so quickly," Kagome said, obviously reaching for an explanation. "It just swooped down from out of nowhere a couple of times, and then it was gone." She flashed a cheesy smile.

Miroku gave a weak chuckle and nervously scratched at the back of his neck. Kagome pawed the dirt with her foot and seemed to be extremely fascinated by the pattern on her shoe.

Inuyasha stared at them, knowing that they were up to something, but he had no idea what. He knew that if the monk tried anything with Kagome, either there would be a red handprint on his face or she would have said something about it instead of trying to help him explain.

Their behavior may have been odd, but since he couldn't put his finger on it, Inuyasha decided to ignore it and he started to fuel the dying embers. As he carefully placed the kindling on the embers, they slowly came alive and soon became little flames licking at the logs.

"So, what happened to Sango?" Miroku asked indifferently. Inuyasha dropped a log.

"She's… I don't know where she is. We split up awhile ago," he replied quickly, resuming his task.

"Someone should go after her," said Kagome. "It's getting really dark."

"Indeed," Miroku agreed. "She probably got lost. Why, these woods here are so monotonous, I'm surprised that even Inuyasha found his way back."

"I'll get her," Inuyasha said, a bit annoyed at Miroku's comment. "I can find her and be back in no time; all I have to do is follow my nose." And with that, he was off. They watched as Inuyasha bounded through the trees.

"Whew. That was close," said Kagome.

"Indeed," replied Miroku. They looked at each other. "So…"

"What are we going to do now?" asked Kagome.

"Well…" Miroku murmured with a glint in his indigo eyes. "We could always pick up where we left off…" he trailed suggestively.

Kagome thought about what happened not ten minutes earlier. She remembered how good he made her feel and thought she deserved to feel good after the way Inuyasha treated her. "Why not?" she replied.

"Well then, lets get started," Miroku said as he stepped forward and kissed her in the dancing firelight.