Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that I do not own Inuyasha...(fingers crossed)

Wow, I'm already on my third chapter...it's beautiful! I hope ya'll are still interested, but even if ya'll aren't, I'll do my duty and finish this story gladly. Ever since writing my last chapter, I've been gone on a short vaca in the Dells. I really wanted to go in this Top Secret place, but didn't have time. I spent most of my time at The Wilderness Resort. They're making another wave pool, except this one will be outside. I can't wait to go back! So...there I go on and on being a blabbermouth. On to the chapter already!

Finding What Was Lost
By: Sanci J

Chapter 3: I want to stay

Last chapter...

Kagome sighed, and changed the subject. "You guys go ahead while I pack. Shippou's probably worried. You should have brought him with. Here, give him this." She handed Inuyasha a huge lollipop that she retrieved from her dresser. "It will calm him down."

Inuyasha stared at the lollipop in his hands and glanced uneasily at Miroku.

End of last chapter

Sango moved next to Kagome. "I'll stay with you Kagome, that way your packing will be faster and you'll get back sooner." She smiled.

Miroku's right eye twitched and he grabbed Kagome's bag, holding it close to him. "Why don't I help you pack instead? That way Inuyasha can get back to Shippou and Lady Kaede, while Sango has to be by Kilala. She's never been separated this long yet, and she might get confused." He cut in.

Sango frowned at him. "He is right. Kilala and I haven't been separated this long in a while. I should go back..." She said uneasily and stared at Miroku. He avoided her gaze. 'Why does he want to stay? He's got something up his sleeve and I don't like it one bit...' she thought.

Kagome began to gather clean clothes to bring along.

"How about Inuyasha stay here and help you pack what you need." Sango said all the while scrutinizing Miroku to see what kind of a reaction she'd get from him. "That way I can get back to Kilala and Miroku can give Shippou the candy. He probably won't need much comforting anyway, he's with Lady Kaede."

Miroku and Inuyasha shared another look.

"I can stay." Miroku said a bit more forcefully, because he didn't want to get hit when the girls would find out they didn't know where Shippou was.

Inuyasha glared at him. 'He's trying to get out of looking for the fox, so I'll get blamed. Either that, or he wants to be alone with Kagome. Not if I can help it!' he thought, his anger rising. "No!"

Kagome blinked at him in surprise. "Why not? It's a good plan, and he's nice to offer." She fake coughed. "Unlike someone else..."

Sango and Miroku smiled.

"What did you say?" Inuyasha asked walking closer to her.

"Nothing Inuyasha." She said and smiled as she stuffed two of her school uniforms inside the bag.

"It would be better if Miroku and Sango went back."

"Why? Would you rather stay with me?" Kagome stared at Inuyasha, waiting for his answer before she winked at Sango.

Inuyasha didn't know what to say to that. A blush creeped up his neck and he stared at the wall to regain his composure. "Of-of course not! You've got the shards, remember? I've got to protect them." He felt bad when he saw Kagome's hurt look. 'Why is she upset? Did she want me to stay?'

"Yeah." Kagome was disappointed. 'Why do I have to like him so much? It hurts when he says these things.' She slowly pushed her outfits down in a small attempt to make more room for snacks. Miroku noticed the tension between them. 'Inuyasha is such an idiot. Is he still clueless to Kagome's feelings for him? He should stay with her...they need some time alone.' Miroku grinned evilly at that last thought. He came out of his thoughts to a sharp pain on his shoulder. "Owww..." Sango's weapon was still in the air. What had he done now to deserve this? "Sango, I didn't do anything!" He rubbed his shoulder.

"It's not what you were doing, it's what you were thinking in that perverted mind of yours!" she said and smacked him again.

He fell and Kagome sighed sitting down next to him. "Sango, why did you do that? He wasn't being perverted. I believe him." She pushed on his cheek. "Miroku, get up!"

"Kagome, leave the lecher, he deserves it." Inuyasha said in a bored tone. He was confused when Kagome's eyes all of a sudden went from light and caring to shocked and angry.

'I cannot believe him! I try to be caring, and he tries to grope me?' She flew to Inuyasha and held onto his arm, all the while staring at the smiling monk trying to sit up. She looked at Inuyasha to see him fuming at Miroku.

He held Kagome closer to him. "I told you to stay away from Kagome when you're being perverted!" he growled.

Kagome sighed. "It's alright Inuyasha, he won't do it again. Come on, we have to get packing so they can head back." Kagome hugged Sango, but Inuyasha wouldn't let her near Miroku.

Sango reached in her pocket for the phone.

"No Sango. You hold onto it for now. I can get it when we get back." Kagome opened her first aids box. "Everything is alright in here except for the gauze and antiseptic burn cream. I need more before we go. Hopefully mom is here still...I know she had to go to the store." She looked up to see that Inuyasha and Sango were both glaring at Miroku still. "Sango, we probably won't be back until tomorrow. By the time my mom gets back from the store, it'll be late."

"What's a store?" Sango asked.

Kagome thought of a good way to explain this. "Well...it's a place you can buy lots of things at. Like...clothes, food, and medical products that can help cure people."

They still seemed confused, but they nodded.

Kagome put the bag on her back and lead them down the stairs. Inuyasha saw Miroku walking behind Kagome. "I said to stay away from Kagome before you get any sudden urges."

"Inuyasha, I didn't get any 'sudden urges'. I thought she was my staff. It was an accident." He said seriously as they reached the bottom.

"Then how come I heard you muttering about her having your child then?" he growled trying to sound threatening, but him being human didn't help matters.

Miroku was silent. "Sango, we better get back. Lady Kaede is waiting." He avoided mentioning Shippou and inched towards the door.

"Wait, do you have Shippou's lollipop?" Kagome asked.

Inuyasha remembered putting it in his haori and pulled it out. He gave it to Sango.

"Thanks." She replied and they left.

Setting her bag on the kitchen table, she opened it and began to put in various snacks she knew the others would like. Potato chips...ramen...a bag of suckers...

She still had room after putting those in and took out one of the meals her mom had packed for her to take and put it in.

Closing the bag, she yawned and glanced at the time. 8:45.

Inuyasha noticed she was getting tired. 'Already? She's barely done anything.' After all, when he had come through the window after carrying the monk up, she was just waking up. Sango had still been sleeping.

Inuyasha heard a noise at the door and stood in front of Kagome protectively. He tensed when the door opened. Kagome pushed past him and ran to the door. He sighed with relief to see her mom carrying two large bags.

"Kagome, you're still here. That's great!" she smiled and kicked off her shoes after shutting the door.

"Mom, did you just come from the store?" Kagome asked taking one of the bags from her mom.

"Yes, did you need something?" she saw Inuyasha and her eyebrows lifted. "Inuyasha, is that really you?" she asked in surprise.

Kagome set the bag down on the counter and eyed Inuyasha warily when he tensed. "Mom, don't you remember? There isn't any moon out tonight..."

"Oh!" her mother said quickly. "So...do you have everything you need?"

"Actually no, the only thing we need is more gauze and some antiseptic burn cream. We've been low on both for a while, but one of my friends got hurt recently so now I'm out of gauze. I wasn't sure if we had any here, otherwise we have to go to the store."

"I'm sure we're out." She looked at her watch. "I can go back and get more. Actually that works out well. I can pick Souta up at his friend's house on the way. "

"I thought Souta was staying the night?" Kagome asked.

"He got homesick again, so I'm going to pick him up." She smiled at Inuyasha. "It's nice to see you again Inuyasha. You are right Kagome...he is very handsome in his human state, although personally I miss your fuzzy ears."

Kagome choked on her own spit and her face turned red. 'I can't believe mom just said that! I hope he didn't hear her right! Oh...this is so embarrassing. Especially since I'm choking on my own spit!' She grabbed onto the counter so she wouldn't fall to the ground and kept choking. "Wa...wa-ter...wa-ter..." she gasped and felt someone beating her on the back. She broke into mild coughs and drank from the Dixie cup given to her.

"What did you choke on?" Inuyasha asked worriedly, and she noticed he was right over her shoulder.

She shivered and attempted a fake laugh. "Nothing. It was my own...spit."

He gaped at her in disbelief. She had choked on her own spit? That was all?

"Oh, Souta rented Pirates again, so if you want something to do, watch it with Inuyasha. Otherwise I would appreciate it if you could put the groceries away. Well, I'm off. Call my phone if you need anything else." Her mom said and left.

After putting the groceries away, Kagome lead Inuyasha into the living room to watch the movie. She put the tape in and sat down, but Inuyasha stood at the door staring at her.

"Why are you standing there?" she asked. "Sit down-"There was a loud crashing sound as Inuyasha kissed the hard floor. He growled and she winced at the sound. 'I'm surprised grandpa hasn't woken up yet.'

"Kagome, you did that on purpose!" he yelled and stood up.

"I did not!" she said defensively. "What I was trying to say was instead of standing there all night, come and S-I-T down on the couch."

"You forgot an apology." He said gruffly after she turned the lights off. She looked up at him from the remote and stared at him. He looked amazing from where she sat. His eyes sparkled from the light of the TV and he almost made her stop breathing. She couldn't believe how much she cared about him. How much she loved him. She loved the way he protected her and blushed around her. She loved his exotic eye colors. Gold and deep brown. They captivated her and she still wondered how such a perfect being had been made so beautiful. His hair warmed her and she missed his fuzzy ears. Her mom was right...he was handsome, and she would go so far as to call him sexy, his appearance effected her that much so. "I'm so-rry." She said and cleared her throat. She hadn't noticed tears had gathered in her eyes, her feelings were that strong. She quickly blinked them away. Her heart soared when he felt him sit next to her and she smiled.

Inuyasha kept glancing at Kagome throughout the movie. He was worried about her still. She was acting different and he wondered if he had done something wrong. Every once in a while she would glance at him, and he was careful to make sure she didn't catch him looking at her. Once he got caught up in what Kagome had said was a movie, he forgot everything that was happening until he felt her head on his shoulder. He was careful not to move it too much so he wouldn't wake her. When the movie was almost over, he felt his eyes drifting closed. Little did he know that her head had moved and was now on his chest and hers was supporting his head.


"Shippou!" Sango yelled, but the young kit was nowhere to be found. She looked at Miroku. "Why aren't you helping? Do you know why he isn't coming?"

Miroku remained silent and walked on to Kaede's ahead of her.

"Miroku, you idiot!" she ran after him before he was lost to her trail of vision in the darkness.

"What?" Miroku asked, knowing Shippou was gone. 'What can we do? He's obviously not here and it's too dark to go looking, so we have to wait till morning.' "Lady Sango, Shippou is gone." He said as they walked into Kaede's hut.

"Like I didn't know that already." She said sarcastically.

"What? Shippou is missing?" Kaede looked up from the fire she sat next to. She had one of Kagome's pots over it on a rack. She had been stirring it until the two had interrupted. "Where did he go to?"

"I am not sure Lady Kaede. The last time I saw him was before Sango went in the well and that was yesterday." He clutched his prayer beads closer to him. 'Where could young Shippou have gone without telling anyone? He would never leave like that. Something is wrong.' He saw Sango pacing across the room and touched her shoulder, but she pushed him away in anger.

"How could you? Miroku, you've known he was gone all this time and you didn't tell anyone? How could you!" She shrieked, and to anyone who would have seen this display would have thought she was going crazy. Kilala came forth from the dark and mewed at her master.

Miroku stared in shock at Sango's behavior. She was acting out of character, and he felt nervous. She was also blaming him, though he wasn't the only one who knew. Inuyasha did too, Miroku was just the one who got stuck taking the blame for it. But he couldn't find his voice to say that.

"Calm yourself Sango." Kaede said in thought. "I might be able to help find him."

"I just can't believe it. You kept this to yourself...and to accomplish what?! What were you planning on doing? Huh? He could be in danger, or worse, Naraku could have found him by now." She crumpled, but kept pacing.

"Are ye sure he didn't follow ye into the well?" Kaede asked. She sat cross-legged on the cushioned mat stirring dinner.

Sango stopped pacing. "He could have, but-"

"He probably did. Now that I think about it, he disappeared right before Sango went in the well. He couldn't have gotten in with Inuyasha and I because we stayed close to the well for some time afterward." Miroku had stepped in the light of the fire. "It is the only possible way for him to get in; using someone else. But wouldn't he have come out? He would have flew at Kagome for protection against Inuyasha's wrath. But he didn't." He sighed and sat down.

Sango felt tears gather in her eyes and she turned away from Miroku's gaze in anger. She sat down and Kilala gathered in her lap. 'What are we going to do? We have to find Shippou....oh please let him be alright. This was all Miroku's fault. If he told us sooner, the five of us could have found him. I hope Naraku has nothing to do with this disappearance.'

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beth1685: Thanks for the support! You'll find out soon enough 'bout Shippou, within the next couple chapters, I think. Thanks for reviewing!

Jaini: Actually, I'm not sure yet...Sesshoumaru will be in the story, but I have yet to decide about pairing them together...hmmm. Thanks for the review and keep reading!

ammiers: Don't worry, nothing can keep me from writing...well, unless I die first...then..Never mind that! Miroku and Inuyasha are great, aren't they? Gotta love em...Thanks for reviewing and stay tuned!

Did I leave you guys on a cliffy or what? Man, this chapter was brutal for me to get down...and it's sooooo long too. Hope you're satisfied with this new installment and I'll be sure to have chapter four up soon enough.

Chapter 4: Private Thoughts, Public Flirting

Sango had decided to apologize to Miroku for treating him so shabbily, but when she caught sight of him he was flirting with another woman.

Uh oh....trouble just keeps finding Miroku, doesn't it? Well, Miroku isn't the only one with the problems. What about Shippou? What really happened to the cute kit? Could Naraku be the answer? Or something more far-fetched? Will Sango lose some of her craziness?--hahaha

Stay tuned and you'll get these much-needed answers. Let me know if the chapters are too long or too short, okay? I don't have a writing schedule or anything, cause I can't promise when something will be out because I would make you mad. So, please read and review!