InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ When the Truth Rings ❯ Announcement ( Chapter 8 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

AN: Hello all. Chapter Eight is here, and things are starting to heat up! I am greatly enjoying writing this fic, and I am pleased with the feedback. It only encourages me, so thank you! By the way, around Chapter Ten the rating will go up, so just be aware of that. All right, enjoy the chapter below, and review if you can.

A little distance away from Kaede's, Inuyasha decided they should walk the rest of the way. By then, Miroku had caught up with them, but no one uttered a single word. Bending down to let Sango off, he realized that she wouldn't let go of her grip around his neck.

"You can get off now," he told her, unsure if she knew that her ride was over.

"No, Inuyasha," she said, sternly. "We both know the only reason you want to walk is because you want to stall in telling Kagome what's been going on."

He scoffed. "What? Are you kidding me? I'm not stalling."

"Then run the rest of the way there, like we were going to do before you wanted to walk."

Standing up to his full height again, he hooked his arms under her legs and took off again. "Fine, if you are so eager to get there, then you can tell her," he said, gruffly.

"I figured I was going to be the one to do it anyway," she shrugged. "We both know that you aren't the most... tactful guy around."

"How do you think she's going to take it?" Inuyasha asked, changing the subject.

"I'm sure you know the answer already," she told him, settling her head against his shoulder. "But she'll understand. I hope she does, because I feel bad about all this as it is."

"But neither of us could help this," Inuyasha said, dodging a stray low-hanging branch. "Besides, how long does she expect me to play her little head games? At first, it was entertaining, even funny, but now I hate it. I mean, is it too much to ask to not be treated like dirt when all I do is protect her?"

Sango said nothing. It seemed clear to her that he had done a great deal of thinking about his situation with Kagome before he confessed his love to her. It surprised her a little that the hanyou actually took time out to sort out his feelings before acting on them, and this convinced her that his proclamation of love was true. While she kind of smiled at the fact that she finally has someone who will make her happy, she also felt terrible that it had to be the same man her best friend liked. But at this point, she couldn't let guilt get in the way. Besides, Kagome has options in this time and her own. For Sango, this is her only chance, and she's going to take it.

"We're almost there," Inuyasha announced, sounding less than enthused. "I can smell her; she's here."

"Great," Sango sighed as she felt him slow down from a full-out run to a walk. "Let's get this over with."

Walking into sight of Kaede's hut, the trio could see Kagome. When she caught sight of them, she ran over and waited till Inuyasha to let Sango off his back before she wrapped her arms around his waist. "Inuyasha! I'm so glad to be back. It felt like I've been gone for ages!"

'Well, you can always go back for a few more ages,' he thought to himself bitterly, returning the hug with a faint repulsiveness. "We all missed you."

"I've missed you guys too!" she beamed, nearly attacking Sango with a big hug.

"Why are you so... ecstatic?" Sango asked, hugging her back. "You've only been gone a few days."

"I know, but I felt like I had to come back as soon as I could... I had a feeling that something great happened here while I was gone, so I had to check it out."

'If only she knew how close to the truth she is.'

"Actually, you are right, Kagome. Something really great did happen while you were gone, though I'm not sure if you'll think --" Sango started when a powerful wind began to pick up around them.

"What is that?" Miroku asked, uttering his first words since their arrival.

"It's that damn wolf," Inuyasha answered, wrinkling his nose at the smell. "What does he want?"

"I wanted to see my woman if you don't mind," the familiar voice of Kouga sounded as the wind died down. His eyes locked on Kagome and walked right up to her and grabbed her hands in his. "My dear Kagome, are you well? How has this mutt been treating you? Please don't tell me you're hurt... I don't see any injuries on you..."

"I'm fine Kouga," Kagome assured him, praying in her mind that Inuyasha wouldn't overreact at Kouga's close proximity. "Really, I'm all right."

"Good," Kouga nodded, looking over his shoulder to glare at his enemy. "I'm glad to hear you're okay. Because if you weren't..."

"You weren't going to do anything but get your ass handed to you," Inuyasha growled, hand lightly resting on his trusted sword. "Besides, as long as she's traveling with me, your woman will be fine. I actually take care of my pack."

Kagome's eyes widened at Inuyasha's words. "Your woman?" she repeated.

Kouga turned his head to look at her again. "See, finally you are starting to understand Kagome. If you become my woman, than you can have everything you've ever wanted. And finally, that idiot over there realizes it too. What do you say?"

Kagome was speechless. Through all of this, she wasn't sure what was going on. She decided to get answers. Letting go of Kouga's hands, she shook her head. "Hold everything. Inuyasha, what do you mean by saying I'm Kouga's woman? Since when did you have a change of heart?"

He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. It was time to tell her. "Well, I figured that you could go and be with the wolf because I already have a woman..."

"WHAT? WHO?" Kagome screeched, making all the demons present flatten their ears. "You mean... you are with somebody else?"

He nodded. He wanted to prolong answering the question that required names.

"What do you mean that you are with somebody else? I can't believe you!" she continued to yell, this time right in his face. "I thought that we had something!"

"We did!" he yelled back at her, anger rising. "But you could've fooled me! I thought that protecting you every moment I was awake would make you be just a little nicer to me, but all you did was plant my face into the ground! Y'know, things like that made me hate you, and then I realized that I never wanted you at all!"

Kagome gasped and took a step back, wide-eyed. Her mouth was slightly open, but she covered it by her hand. He had shocked her into silence. For once.

He knew that all he had said was true, but when he saw her expression, he began to wonder if it should have came out like that. Probably not. She was going to cry. He could tell already. 'Please don't cry Kagome,' he begged her silently. He hated when she cried. It never seemed to stop.

"I... never knew you felt like that," she said quietly. Sango and Miroku had to strain to hear her, but Inuyasha and Kouga heard her loud and clear. And Kouga didn't like the way things were headed.

"Well, obviously he doesn't care about you anymore," he said, stepping in between them. "But I always have. Come, I think it's time for us to leave."

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" she told him harshly, and pushed him out of the way. Her returning glare at Inuyasha was curious, but stern. "Who are you seeing now?"

"Yeah, who are you seeing?" Kouga chimed in, beaming at the current situation. He knew that their breakup was upon them, and afterwards he'd take Kagome home with him to marry her.

"Shut up, wolf!" Inuyasha snapped at him. "This is between me and her, not you."

"Well, then answer the lady's question," Kouga grinned, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "She's waiting."

"If you don't shut your trap..."

"Hurry up, mutt! Answer her question. You really shouldn't keep my woman waiting."

"Your woman?" Kagome shouted at him. "Don't call me that! And answer me Inuyasha!"

"Of course you're my woman!"

"No I'm not!"

"Shut up Kouga!"

"Who are you seeing?"

Then finally, with his annoyance turning into anger, Inuyasha went over to Sango and grabbed her hand. He interlaced his fingers with hers, and raised it for everyone to see. "Sango!" he yelled.

A hush fell over all of them, silence dominating the once noisy group of humans, demons, and the inbetween. Inuyasha even surprised himself with the ferocity in his tone, and when he turned to look at Sango, he saw her blushing face. Her skin must've been burning with the hue of red that graced her features.

Kagome didn't say anything, she just looked dumbly at their hands, not sure what to say. Inuyasha didn't have a clue either, but somehow Kouga managed to gather a sentence together.

"Wow."

Sango let go of Inuyasha's hand and took a step ahead of him. "Kagome... I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen, but --"

"No," the miko said, holding up a hand to silence her. "... it's not your fault. Yet, I'm not surprised."

"What do you mean?"

"I knew deep down he never wanted me to begin with."

Sango gasped and covered her hand with her mouth. Miroku's eyes widened. Kouga smiled, and Inuyasha did nothing. "Then why..."

"I thought that maybe his feelings would change," Kagome said, lowering her gaze to the ground. "I knew that after the horrible memories he had to Kikyo, he probably didn't want me around reminding him of her."

Sango turned to look at Inuyasha, hoping he'd say something to comfort her friend. He didn't.

'What am I supposed to say? It's not like she's lying.'

"At least I didn't lose him to someone who wasn't worthy of love," Kagome smiled, looking back up at Sango. "At least I know that now you have a chance at experiencing love with someone who will return it, like I always wanted."

Sango smiled back at her, and with one sweeping movement, both girls embraced each other with a hug, tears falling from two pairs of eyes. "Thank you, Kagome," and "I hope you are happy," were exchanged in muffled voices through their tears.

Pulling away, Kagome wiped the tears from her eyes. "It hurts, but I'm glad to know that my best friend is happy."

"Thank you."

Sighing, Inuyasha knew what he had to do. He walked up to Kagome, grabbed her by the shoulders, and pulled her into a hug. He didn't say anything, but he knew that she knew that all his words of goodbye were in that hug. Once he released her, he felt the weight of his secret dissipate, and he was relieved. Finally, he wouldn't have to hide his feelings from anyone anymore. While he knew that Kagome was going to cry her eyes the second she was alone, he didn't care. It had to be done.

"Well," Kouga sighed. "Now this presents a problem."

Turning an annoyed eye at him, Inuyasha asked, "What is it now?"

"You see, now that you and the demon slayer are together, can I really trust you to be just as protective over my Kagome as you were before?"

The hanyou stared blankly at him. "I guess not."

"Inuyasha!" Sango exclaimed angrily and hit him on the arm.

"I mean... yeah. I wouldn't leave her out in the forest to get killed."

Kouga shook his head. "I have reason to believe that your beloved will take precedence over my Kagome, as to be expected. That means only one thing."

"What's that, wolf?"

"That means that I have to either take her away with me so I can protect her, or I stay here with you until this ordeal is over," he said, triumphantly.

"Hell no!" Inuyasha shouted, shaking his head. "That's not gonna happen. I am not going to let you travel with us. I don't like you when I see you every once in a while, and I surely won't like to see you every day!"

"Think about it, dog," Kouga said, uncrossing his arms. "That was back when we both were fighting over Kagome. But since you have your own woman, there's no reason for us to fight."

Pausing to ponder the proposal, or declaration, Inuyasha thought, 'Well, he's right. There's no valid reason we should fight. But do I really want him around all the time?'

"I can tolerate a few more visits than usual, but no, you can't travel with us," he finally said. "Trust me, she won't come to any harm while she's with us."

Kouga took a second to look at his love's protector, and agreed. "I gotcha. But if anything..."

"Yeah, I know. So do what you want. I'm going inside to see old lady Kaede."

"I hope she has something strong for me to drink," Miroku muttered to himself, leading the group inside.

Inuyasha let everyone walk ahead of him, but pulled Sango back to stay behind with him. Once everyone disappeared inside the hut, he turned to smile at her. "See, piece of cake. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would've been."

"Yeah," she sighed, smiling warily at him. "I'm glad she took it as well as she did. I couldn't have handled anything worse. Now, can we go inside? I want to see Kaede."

"Um, go ahead, I need a second to myself," he told her. "Save me some of whatever Kaede's making, alright?"

"Got it."

He watched her vanish into the hut, and then he took a seat on the ground. 'What a morning. It's not even noon yet and I'm already washed out. But that's okay. Pretty soon, everything will be the way they should've been from the start. Me and Sango will be bonded together, and I don't have to worry about Kagome anymore. Finally, at last Sango will be happy...'

AN: Whew! That was a rough one. Aren't we all glad that obstacle is over? Okay, well... I guess I don't have to tell you guys, but in case I need to, review if you can. Chapter Nine will be upon us very soon since I will have plenty of time to write in the coming week. Actually, I am about to start on it now. Onward and upward!