Confessions

Author Notes: Okay, so this is my first attempt at doing any form of fiction, much less a Lemon, so I would ask for your criticism, constuctive or otherwise. Also, my use of html is rather limited, mistakes will be made. I would like to thank you for you time and effort, and hope that you are not too terribly disappointed at my attempt.

Legal: All the characters, and possibly a few reference here in contained, belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

And now to the fun part I guess....

************

Chapter 1

It was a cool night with a fair bit of humidity clinging to the air. The companions had traveled for near three days now, and were getting weary from the travels, and began to set up camp earlier than usual, as the last pink of day was still barely on the horizon.

They moved about twenty meters of the road into a forest, and cleared away room enough for camp before they sat down on the exposed forest floor. Inu-Yasha and Kagome sat down next to each other, and Shippo had made himself a comfy bed out of Kagome's backpack and was trying his best to get fall asleep. Sango was leaning against a tree, wearing her kimono and yukata, with Kirara at her feet, curled up. Miroku was across from Sango, sitting down against a tree, his eyes wandering around as usual, stopping longer on Sango than the others. Everything was like usual.

At least on the surface, but for the past few weeks Miroku had trouble concentrating, his wind tunnel was causing him a higher level of stress as of late. At first he didn't think nothing of it, but as the days passed on, his mind began to wonder what it was that he had felt in his right hand. Perhaps this was the curse's way of signaling he was near the end of his days, that perhaps sometime soon he would no longer be in this world. The monk's duress was evident on his face every now and again, but for the most part he hid those feelings well. He placed his staff next to him, and looked down at his hand, hoping he was just overreacting.

Sango had noticed a change in the monk's attitude more so than the other companions, having not been groped but once these past three days. Sango was not sure if what worried her more, the fact that Miroku seemed distant or that she was worrying about not being groped by that pervert. She looked down at Kirara, her eyes asking the demon-cat, What do you think? The only response she recieve was a tired meow, and the cat's head rubbing against her foot.

Sango thought about asking the monk what was on his mind, but he began to stand before she could. Rising slowly from his tree, he glanced around quickly, and began to walk towards Sango. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know why he began to head towards her, but part of her hoped that he was his old self.

She stood there waiting for the wandering hand, but it never came. Instead, he stopped about arms reach away, and said "I am going to gather some extra firewood."

"Don't be too long, you need to rest," she replied, afraid to ask what was on her mind. And then she was there alone, since Inu-Yasha and Kagome were already a sleep propped against each other.

Her thoughts drifted towards them for a moment, a little envious of the happiness they seemed to share. She wondered if she would ever be like that with someone, and what it would be like. This then led to thinking of Miroku, and wondered if they could be like that, bring a little flush of pink to her cheeks.

She slid down the tree, and looked up at the starry sky through the canopy of the trees, and released a long sigh. She knew that these thoughts would get her no where, right now they had to concentrate on Naraku and the Shikon Jewel shards. However, when she thought about Naraku, thoughts of her brother always followed after, bringing tears to her eyes. She curled up a little, pressing her sleeves against her face to absorb the tears.

She try to redirect her thoughts, to stop the crying, and went back to Inu-yasha and Kagome. Looking at those two made her wonder if she would always be alone, now that her family was dead and the only passion really left in her life was revenge. She sighed again, her tears having shifted from memories of Kohaku to her loneliness. Why couldn't she be happy? she yelled in her head, Why do I have to be stuck with a perverted monk who constantly ask women to bare his child?

************

Miroku had only a small bundle of twigs and kindle, the real reason for his departure, was so he could concentrate on his hand. The wind tunnel had never quite felt this way before. He kept telling himself, Stop it, your overreacting. There is no way that it would happen so soon. Soon after, he realized he had been walking away for about thirty minutes thinking about his hand, he turned around and began to head back towards camp.

He hadn't taken more than ten steps before he heard the sound of something rustling in the bushes, and he dropped the kindling preparing himself to be attacked. When a fox came out from the bushes he sighed in relieve, and tad in disappointment, having grown accustomed to demons lurking around every corner.

He gathered the kindling back up and hurried back to the camp, not wanting to waste anymore time on useless thoughts.

************

Sango, wiped the last bits of her tears away, telling herself This is not the time to think of Kohaku. She looked back over to Inu-Yasha and Kagome, who had fallen over some time during her little crying fit. Even Kirara was sound asleep by now, and Miroku still hadn't returned. She was a more than a little worried, considering she had no clue what was on the monks mind. Before she could dwell on that thought for more than a moment, she heard the approach of Miroku's wooden sandals. She smiled for knowing that he had returned, though she couldn't see him yet.

Miroku slowed down considerably when he could see the dimming fire of the camp, and walked over to the fire, tossing the new kindling in, before heading back over to the tree he had propped up against earlier. Sitting down once again, he picked his staff up, and layed it accross his shoulder, looking over the campsite one last time. His eyes caught notice of evidence that Sango had cried recently, and figured she must have thought of her brother again. This was becoming more and more frequent, and he wished he knew something he could do to help.

Sango's eyes had followed Miroku the entire time he had returned, until he looked over towards her. She then dipped her head, afraid to meet his gaze. She felt so immature at the moment, like a child for not looking back. She just didn't know what to do when her eyes looked into his, her heart began to beat a little faster at the thought.

"Sango," Miroku said softly to her," what seems to be on your mind? I help out anyway I can." His was quite worried about her. It had been quite a while since she had wept over the memory of her brother.

The demon hunter heard his words, but wondered what motives the monk could have. She looked up towards him, but not near his eyes, "Nothing to concern yourself with, Houshi-sama," each word she said seemed faint and sorrowful. She herself knew that he would not believe that, but hoped he would push the point, she just wasn't in the mood.

He partly could understand that she didn't want to talk about it, but he wanted so bad to comfort her. He might now always show it, if ever, but he cared deeply about Sango. And not just for her near flawless beauty, but the demon hunter attitude had wiggled a special place in his heart. "I understand, but I am here for you just in case," was all he said before closing his eyes.

She wiped her eyes again to make sure she had gotten all the tears away, before she responded, "Thank you for understanding." And she remained silent for a minute, seeing him against that tree, and back toward Inu-Yasha and Kagome. She knew that the half-demon looked so much more comfortable than her poor little perverted monk. She sighed, deciding to gamble a bit, but she wanted someone to be near her, and he seemed troubled as well. "Hey, Houshi-sama, you still awake?"

The monk lifted his head up a littel surpised to hear Sango speak. "Yes, are you going to take me up on my offer?" he asked a little eagerly.

"Not exactly, but could you come over her and sit next to me," she said softly under her voice, a little embarrassed to ask. "I just don't want to feel quite as alone, so don't get any funny ideas in your head."

He nodded, and made his way over to her, slowly sitting down next to her left side, only a few centimeter lay between them now. "Is this fine, or do I need to move?" he asked wanting to ensure his own safty partly.

Her lips gently curled into a small smile, the monk finally showing a hint of restraint. She slip in a little closer to him, wrapping her arm around his, sliding her fingers between his, "No, this is more like what I wanted." She leaned her head on his shoulder, and closed her eyes. "I know I might not show it, but I am glad you're here," he words were soft and caring, "I just thought you should know, so lets not keep hidden between us. Okay?"

Miroku was quite surprised at the change in her attitude, and wondered if she had noticed the change in his demeanor. "Agreed," he told her softly,"But for now let's get some rest. I will tell you the truth in the morning."

Sango rubbed against his shoulder a little more with her cheek before responding, "Fine, I will wait till the morning." Her words slowing as she said them, barely staying awake now. "Good night, Miroku..."

"Sweet dreams, my dear Sango," Miroku replied as she feel asleep propped against him. He waited some time before he closed his eyes again, watching her slowly breath until the fire near extinguished, then in the near blackness he found sleep.