Author's Note: i would just like to thank the people who have reviewed so far. unfortunately, this chapter is a little short... blame it on a very maddening case of Writer's Block. at this point, i would love feedback. help me get the story rolling, onegai!

Deftly passing over the smaller mountains, they soon touched down onto the grounds of the old temple. A warm smile passed over kagome's face, but the smile saddened as she eyed the grave of Miroku's father. "You know, it's good to be back."

Inuyasha frowned. He was none too happy. "Could we get this process over and done with? Not only is it odd for me to hold this useless lump of a body, Miroku, the fact that you and Kagome are currently sharing the same body really freaks me out."

Kagome turned to Inuyasha, a death glare gleaming in her eyes. She pointed to Inuyasha. "Inuyasha, sit!"

His eyes widened and he cringed, but nothing happened. Kagome began to laugh hysterically. After the laughter died down, Miroku casually explained himself. "I thought you deserved a good scare." Inuyasha quickly landed a fist into the serene, sleeping face of the monk's. "You're in for so much pain when you get back into this body of yours…"

Kagome frowned. "Inuyasha, honestly."

He dropped the subject, and they began to close the distance between them and the temple.

Mushin met them at the door. It was certainly a sight to see. His past disciple was thrown casually over the hanyou's shoulder and the rest of them seemed fine about it… all but the hanyou, that is.

The a frown passed over the young miko's face as Miroku decided that this was as good a time as any to tell the old master what had happened and why they were visiting in the first place.

After hearing about the current predicament the group was in, he agreed to help them.

The old master ushered the group inside the temple, instructing the hanyou to place Miroku's body in a corner of the room up against the wall. Inuyasha plopped him down mindlessly, not caring one bit if he had created a few bruises.

He then forced the hanyou, taiji-ya and kitsune out of the large room. Kagome frowned. "And you're sure you know what you're doing, Mushin-sama?" Kagome nodded again, answering her question. "Yes. Master Mushin taught the spell to me in the first place; he can certainly get us out of this predicament."

Mushin brought two sutras over, one per forehead of Miroku's body and Kagome. "If you could, please try to remain calm until this whole process is finished." Kagome closed her eyes, and both the monk and the miko calmed themselves, tuning to their inner minds for guidance.

The elder monk began to mutter hushed incantations, the words of ancient scriptures past. The sutra on Kagome's head began to glow a vibrant light blue as the soul began to transfer.

In a dark, ominous castle somewhere hidden by a nearly indestructible barrier, a rather loathsome hanyou fumed and seethed quietly.

Kagura just smirked. It pleased her to see Naraku so obviously enraged. "So… I take it nothing went as planned, Naraku?"

At that, the hanyou smiled wickedly, sending an unwanted shiver up the wind sorceress's back. "On the contrary, Kagura. The spell may have been dispelled, but I managed to unleash some havoc upon the lives of the miko and her followers. And what's better, I now have invaluable information."

Kagura frowned uncertainly, wondering what Naraku had in store for the ones who were to free her from his iron-like grasp.

Kagome opened her eyes slowly to the image of herself.

Oh… it's me. Wait. What is going on here!

The next thing that hit her was amazing amounts of pain to her head and other various parts of the body she inhabited due to the incessant pulverizing dished out by the hanyou and taiji-ya. Yikes… they're really ruthless…

After recuperating for a few minutes, she glanced down at her hands. They were large, slightly calloused, and on the right…

On her right hand was a thick fingerless indigo glove, wrapped in light blue beads that clicked together silently. From under the guard, she felt an empty hollowed nothingness that hurt with the cold ebbing knowledge that this would most likely bring death to this body she currently possessed.

She jumped up, slowly registering their current predicament. "What is going on!" her face frowned at her, looking as easily displeased as she felt right now. "It seems Master Mushin over here has had a little too much sake to drink recently, and didn't recite the incantation as it should've been said." Kagome's body pointed over to the old monk, whose bald head was littered with various bumps and bruises.

Kagome couldn't contain herself. It felt instinctive. She felt her masculine hand lift up into a balled fist and land right onto Mushin's head.

Miroku blinked. Kagome frowned, making miroku's shoulders shrug as a sheepish grin fell across the face she now possessed. "I couldn't help it… I'm sorry?"

Kagome's face smiled slightly. "I understand how you feel. For some reason, our bodies know what we'd do in certain times. Call it instinct, if you will."

Mushin rubbed his head. "This mismatch isn't permanent, I'm glad to say. Unfortunately, though, I can't determine when it will be rectified. You will just have to make due in each other's bodies."

Kagome thought about it. "I say we keep this a little secret between the three of us. I don't think Inuyasha will be none to happy… nor Sango, for that matter. No one really needs to know, anyways."

Darn… I'm starting to think like Miroku…

Kagome's mouth turned up as Miroku snickered. "I'm not so sure that's a bad thing, though."

Kagome made Miroku's head snap up. "Eh?"

"You said, 'darn… I'm starting to think like Miroku…' and I replied with, 'I'm not so sure it's such a bad thing, though.'"

Kagome was puzzled. "Did I really say that out loud?"

Mushin explained. "You will be able to hear each other's thoughts, see each other's memories, and feel each other's pain and other emotions while the switch is still in motion."

They both nodded, understanding.

"Well… then I guess we'll just let our instincts take over and try to act like each other as best we can, huh?" Kagome wondered aloud.

Miroku nodded. "Well… I guess we should go greet the others. They're probably worried by now."

They were making their way to the door when Inuyasha shoved it open. He was surprised to see the two standing there, staring at him. Miroku subconsciously tucked a strand of feathery raven hair behind his ear and Kagome stared at Inuyasha expectantly.

"Shall we, then?" Kagome felt the words slip from the lips she was borrowing and a dark, slightly thick eyebrow was quirked. Her voice sounded deeper, smoother. Much like Miroku's…

Hey, this isn't so bad…

Not at all. Just keep playing along.

Inuyasha was still a little caught off-guard. He had come to see what was taking so long, and had pulled the doors to the temple open to find the miko and monk staring at him like nothing at all had ever been out of the ordinary to begin with.

"Err… yeah. Let's go."

The hanyou turned on his heal and they began to head back to the taiji-ya, nekomata, and kitsune who awaited their return.

On the way back from the temple, Miroku was able to experience the joys of flying on the back of Inuyasha. Kagome got to ride with Kirara and Sango, enjoying the leisurely soaring, instead of the rollercoaster movements that she endured whenever she was given a piggy-back ride from Inuyasha. It was nice not to worry about choking on Inuyasha's hair.

They touched down onto solid ground in the late evening, figuring it would be wiser to camp out instead of traveling back to Kaede's Village in the dark.

As Sango leaned over to dismount Kirara, Kagome felt the insatiable urge to just reach out to her behind. First she tried to fight it, feeling that it was wrong. Then, realizing that she was indeed trying to be Miroku, who would do exactly that, she let her hand slowly creep up on the unsuspecting taiji-ya.

Her actions were met by a yelp and a slap. Miroku could feel the burning pain on the delicate face that was temporarily his. "Ouch…"

They all turned to the monk disguised as Kagome, wondering what she would complain about. He quickly thought of an excuse. "Inuyasha, your raiment's a little too rough… I practically got a rug burn on my face trying not to fall off!"

Inuyasha frowned, his temper steadily rising. "Well, excuse me! It never seemed to bother you before!" he stomped off. After shooting a death glare to who she thought was Miroku, Sango turned on her heal and followed Inuyasha. Shippou and Kirara went of and played a bit.

The monk in disguise smiled smugly and slowly shook his head. "Really, Kagome. You're doing too much of a good job pretending to be me. Sure, I was at least hoping that you would keep up in acting lecherous as to not arouse suspicions, but I wasn't really expecting you to reach for Sango's behind."

A childish frown was instantly plastered onto the monk's face. "Excuse me! I just did what your instincts were telling me to do! It's not like I wanted to touch her butt!"

Miroku nodded slowly, his smug smirk still etched into his features. "Sure, I believe you."

Kagome rubbed her masculine face. "Sheesh… never knew Sango could hit so hard. I mean, she always did leave a pretty red mark, but I still didn't think it was THIS hard… this hurts."

She pouted, making Miroku look like a young child. "Umm… Kagome?" her attention was brought back to reality. "Yes?" Miroku shook his head firmly, soft raven hair flying everywhere. "Don't pout like that. You make me look like a child."

Kagome just pouted some more. "Well as long as we're alone, I'll act any way I want. So there." And with that, she stuck her tongue out at the masquerading monk.

Miroku just scowled.

As they heard Inuyasha and Sango approaching, they quickly got into character. Kagome and Miroku felt themselves sinking into the normal movements each body would be performing. When the taiji-ya and hanyou approached, Kagome was meditating against a nearby tree, and Miroku was sifting through that hideous backpack for dinner. He pulled out ramen and other ninja food.

Luckily for Miroku, Kagome's instinct provided him with the exact knowledge on how to prepare the food, and Kagome actually learned how to enter a self-induced comatose meditation state.

Well, you know what they say… you learn something new every day.

Heh… you can say that again.

Dinner was unusually quiet. Even Shippou, with his mile-a-minute talking habits and unending energy supply, wasn't as bubbly as he usually was. Something was wrong, different, and everyone could sense it. Sango knew by the receding amount of fondling she got from the monk and as of demon decent, both Shippou and Inuyasha could sense it.

Something was definitely going on, and it had to do with the monk and the miko. After dinner, they all settled down for the night. Inuyasha took refuge in a higher tree, sitting high over his companions, Sango got a rollout-futon, and Miroku got to sleep in Kagome's sleeping bag. The only setback was the young kitsune who insisted on cuddling with him. Thus, the conversation began.

This is too close for comfort…

Aww… but I think it's sweet that he likes to cuddle.

For me, it's just odd. And slightly disturbing.

But he doesn't know that you're actually Miroku, and not me. So just deal with it.

Honestly… alright. I'll try.

…

…

How can you sleep on the ground like this, and get a good night's rest? Already I can feel that my back's going to be all tense in the morning.

For a monk, luxury isn't always needed.

And yet, you don't hesitate when it comes to scamming people for a roof over our heads and a good meal.

A smirk found its way onto both of their lips and Kagome tried to stifle a small giggle. It wouldn't be good for Inuyasha to hear Miroku giggling.

But that's only because I want good shelter and food. Not because I need it, which is why I don't complain when we indeed have to sleep outside.

A sincere smile found its way across the monk's features.

You're a good person to talk to.

Really… you think so?

Yeah. Despite your lecherous attempts and conning ways, it seems like you're always there to talk to when I need it.

Thank you. I'm glad I could be of service. Now… I advise you to try to get some sleep… I'm getting a little tired myself.

Sure, why not? Good night, Miroku.

Good night, Kagome.

They were soon drifting along on a sea of peaceful solitude as dreams washed over them.

None of them noticed the bright crimson eyes watching. Kagura had snuck away from Naraku once again, not caring what her penalty would be this time. Something was wrong with the miko and the monk, and she knew it. she had watched them earlier, and it was almost as if…

She shook her head, clearing the unfinished thought. It was impossible! Either way, she would have to keep this a secret from Naraku as long as she could if she planned to be freed from him anytime soon.