Legal stuff: I don't own Inu-Yasha or the characters within the story – I'm just borrowing. D I'm not making any money… period… so don't worry hehe.

Notes from me: This is going to be a Miroku/Kagome fic folks. I don't know why, but I love these two characters a lot. It's a lot harder to write about them than I had initially thought. It was much easier for me to write my story of Kag/Inu on I guess because the story line does not support my cause as much, and I have to look into things more and more to make sense of them actually being a couple.

Characters: The shard squad for now (sorry about the name… I couldn't resist), two characters will make their way into our story line… very familiar characters.

Summary: What is it like to lose the world in which you once lived? To lose the people you loved? To lose your identity? What would become of your future? Only they know. (Miroku/Kagome)

Rating: R – And why is that? Because in later chapters I'm going to include lemons to satisfy the perverts... well actually… they are there to satisfy my need to write smut… Anyways! I might have to tone my original smut scenes down a bit… I used some pretty naughty words D and some neet stuff I found in a Karma-Sutra book (sorry if I spelled that wrong… it's late and I'm tired)… I wonder what I'm allowed to get away with?

Only They Know

By Gabreilla Moushigo

It was just another day for the Inu-Yasha and friends, still looking for Naraku, still trudging on endlessly from place to place in search of answers. Inu-Yasha decided to have mercy on them today and set up camp.

'Is it always going to be like this?' Kagome thought, so very tired of it all. Finally, last month she had just given up on her schooling… all she did was fail anyway. It was a miserable thought, but about all that was left for her to do was to stay here. She wondered, when the time came, if she would be able to chose to stay here or not… or if she would really want to stay here at all. 'Miroku and Sango are… happy…' she groaned inwardly, jealous, even though she tries to squelch that particular emotion. Kagome half wished that Sango would just go ahead and… date… or whatever you called it here… Miroku already. 'At least he shows her affection, and cares for her! He is also gentle and always had something nice to say… unlike Inu-Yasha…' She didn't hate the half demon, but it upset her to no end that he could never be truly hers. He would always think of Kikyo… or would push her away… or… something.

"It's not good to brood so much Lady Kagome." Miroku gently reminded from the other side of the fire he and Inu-Yasha built. He pulled out a few vegetables out of her bag and began slicing them, offering her a few so she could help.

"You should talk… you brood all the time." Kagome teased.

"Ah… true, true." He admitted, going about his task. "But that's why I have all of you here… to cheer me up, hm?" His eyes met with hers for a moment, a compassionate smile appearing.

"Yes… and I have you to cheer me up." Kagome just realized what she said. "I mean all of you to cheer me up, of course."

"Of course." He agreed, but she thought it held a mocking tone. A sly grin spread across his face.

"Watch what you say monk." Inu-Yasha clocked Miroku on the head upon entering camp.

"I don't know what your talking about Inu-Yasha… I meant no harm." Miroku said quickly.

"It better stay that way." Inu-Yasha glared at him, then looked down at Kagome, watching her peal the skin off of a potato. "And as for you…"

"How was Kikyo this evening?" Kagome said flatly, causing Inu-Yasha to stutter. She really didn't care anymore if he saw Kikyo and she understood how things were. It was just so stupid for him to be treating her like she was his, when he really didn't have any say at all. Besides… Miroku was just a friend… and it just wasn't fair if they weren't allowed to talk. It still hurt her… because she loved Inu-Yasha… but… she needed to let it go. Mentioning Kikyo was the easiest way to shut him up about anything, she contemplated 'sit'-ing him a couple times… but that usually just made him yell more.

"Can I help chop vegetables, Miroku?" Shippo asked, sympathetic for the knot forming on Miroku's head. He decided to ignore Inu-Yasha who had suddenly went red in the face trying to figure out what to tell Kagome.

"Maybe when you are older." He said, "We don't need you cutting yourself."

"I won't." Shippo promised.

Miroku tried to think of something for him to do. "Doesn't Kagome have some of those 'snack cakes' in her bag too?"

Shippo's eyes widened. "She does?"

"Yes…" He leaned down, whispering. "And they are for dinner… maybe you should help unwrap them for us and put them on the plates!" He gave him a wink. "I think there might be an odd number too… so I think that one person could have two."

"You think?" The little boy became excited.

"And if you were the one unwrapping them… maybe you can have that extra cake before dinner… before anyone notices it."

Shippo gave Miroku a small awkward wink. "I understand." He tried to look as nonchalant as possible while walking over to Kagome's bag and removing the plates and utensils… but most importantly… the snack cakes! He did a very poor job, but no one seemed to notice either way.

"That was nice of you." Kagome complimented. Miroku said nothing and just smiled while Inu-Yasha lowered his lids a little in annoyance. They were all acting strange lately. Kagome was becoming more distant, upset about Kikyo. He didn't feel too much animosity from her though, not as much as he used to. She only mentioned her when he was about to go on a tirade… which only served to shut him up… because whatever he had to deal with - she tried to remind him was only dwarfed in comparison with what he put her through. She was also upset about her schooling… it seemed like there was no help for it… so she gave it up.

Miroku seemed more preoccupied with his hand as of late, trying to figure out how much time he had left. The puncture in his hand was still small, but he worried… Inu-Yasha could understand this. It couldn't be easy to think about it sometime. Despite the worry, Miroku never took his foul mood out on anyone.

Sango was still depressed about her brother, again, nothing Inu-Yasha couldn't understand. She wanted him back, and unfortunately she was neglecting everything and everyone else around her because of it. She had this horribly foul air about her that upset everyone deeply. While she wasn't totally unpleasant, she was far from being the social butterfly of the group.

That stupid little fox brat was probably the only one that didn't have a care in the world. Well… Inu-Yasha couldn't deny the poor rodent a little happiness. After all, in his young life he had his share of pain. He had no parents, but at least he knew that Kagome was staying now and that made the brat unusually happy. He lashed out less and less, no longer worried if his adopted mother Kagome would leave and come back or not.

WWHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRR!

"What in the world is that?!" Miroku shouted.

Inu-Yasha's ears perked up, his gaze following suit. 'What the crap?!' His frown deepened. It looked like some sort of glowing green-purple gloom of color swirling about in the distance.

"What does that look like Miroku?!" Inu-Yasha asked, none to quietly either.

Miroku sensed something evil about the vortex that was forming overhead. It felt almost like a curse… almost like… his mind went blank for a moment. The winds produced by the afar off storm were ripping up trees from the ground. "I-I don't know… but… it looks like my wind tunnel!" He looked at his hands, the winds from even this far away were deafening. As if by magic the tunnel started spinning backwards and throwing things back into earth, not perfectly mind you… but it was so weird – like some reverse tornado.

"We should check this out." Inu-Yasha said. "Let's go!"

"Kirara!" Sango called, Miroku and her took their seats along with Shippo. Kagome decided to ride on Inu-Yasha's back.

A man with black and purple robes fell flat on his ass with a grunt, "UGH!" A small woman figure with long black hair fell into the lake behind him. "Oh!" He cried, turning around after her, he started wading in the water, getting his robes soggy and dirty. "Where are you?" He wondered, his gaze drawn up to the sky in fear. 'We came from that?' he felt himself shiver, 'But why? Just when they had some peace… just when…' He shook that thought off. He continued looking for her; worried she might be drowning in this waist high water. He saw something stir and opened his mouth in a question "K-!?" and then was pulled under.
The sky started to clear up, but they followed the sight all the same. "We're getting closer." Inu-Yasha announced, bounding from tree to tree. The winds finally died down. When they all finally reached the site they stopped, and stood still in the clearing the vortex had made.

Miroku diverted his eyes when he saw the gaping hole in the ground that the winds had made… so much like… He was interrupted by Inu-Yasha's sniffing. "Can you tell what it is Inu-Yasha."

"No…" He stopped, "It looks like whoever was here vanished." He tried another sniff to the ground. 'Weird… it smells like Miroku has been here before… it's almost stale... but not too old either' He half wondered how he could get that smell from this place… maybe since that stupid vortex was similar to Miroku's… maybe that's where the smell came from. But… could a vortex have a smell? Without a second thought he went over to Miroku and took his hand.

"Why… Inu-Yasha… I would have never thought-" Miroku put his other hand to one of his cheeks in a pretend blush, as he had often seen young maidens do.

"Keep it to yourself monk." Inu-Yasha warned, he began sniffing his hand. 'Huh… well… if the vortex has a smell I can't…. wait a second!' He sniffed a bit more earnestly.

Miroku looked like he was close to dying – what the hell was Inu-Yasha doing?! Then it hit him what he did just last night… he was sure he cleaned himself off. He knew he did… did he use enough soap? Even if he did… could Inu-Yasha tell?

"Monk…" He growled.

"What did I do?! You're sniffing me!" Miroku said, mortified at being found out. It was one thing for them to find him drooling over some girl… but it would be humiliating in front of these lovely ladies if someone else voiced what happened.

"Oh… your just sick." His eyes narrowed on him. "Why didn't you warn me you stupid pervert?!" A fist came down and Miroku blocked it deftly.

"Inu-Yasha… wouldn't you much rather talk this through?" Miroku said, his usual stupid smile in place.

"No!"

"Why are they fighting?" Sango asked Kagome.

"Because they are stupid." Kagome answered. "They don't need a reason to fight…" She was calm because she knew that they were just messing around anyway. Inu-Yasha wasn't any angrier than usual, other wise Miroku would be flat on his back.

Sango laughed a little. "I guess they don't." She watched them as they mock battled, the moment of worry over the vortex no longer consuming them.

But it was dangerous to let their guard down, who knew what lurked beyond the clearing and the bushes… the trees and the waters? He would always watch them, and wait…

End of the first chapter! What did you think? I tried to make as little Kagome and Inu-Yasha angst as I could… but that's how the story goes, right? I knew that they had it – but I didn't want to play it up and turn him into a total jerk, you know?

If you think you know where this story is going… you don't know anything yet! Well… in which case… if you HAVE figured it out… then… you know everything! Stay out of my mind you evil brain trolls! runs around

stops Anyway – I'll try to update the next chapter soon. I have a lot of story line written out already – but I have to fill in the missing holes. I hope I didn't leave any in this one… or I would feel really silly!