DEPTHS OF THE DAMNED

...The Reappearance...

Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah. You know the drill.

A/N: Sorry for the long wait! I couldn't login onto fanfiction.net 'cause they said the website server was down... Oh, well. It's up now. =) Yayz!

Well, it was official. It was now summer vacation! No school, no teachers, especially no teachers giving loads of homework! Yes, it was now summer, and there would be none of that. Sango awoke suddenly as her alarm clock went off and she sat up in bed, yawned and stretched widely. She sat there for a moment with her eyes closed and savored the no-school-for-the-rest-of-the-summer moment, until she swung her legs out from the bed and her feet touched the cold carpeted floor. Sango scooped Kilala up in her arms and walked down the staircase as she scratched behind the cat's ears; she was purring loudly.

As Sango walked down the steps, she went over to the living room and was about to flop on the couch, when she saw a wavy black-haired girl standing in front of the window. Sango screamed in surprise. Then she stopped herself and gazed at her friend and held out a shaking hand, hesitating to touch Kagome to see if she was real or not.

"K—Kagoh...meh? I—is that...really...you?" she asked in a small voice.

Kagome nodded slowly in response.

"H—how do I know it's just an...illusion...and the real Kagome is somewhere else?"

"...Because you're just going to have to trust me and yourself on this one..." Kagome said. It had been the first time she ever spoke since their first encounter.

"But...but I'm not sure of myself! Everything's just falling apart!" Sango felt her knees buckle and she toppled to the floor and kneeled over, sobbing uncontrollably in her hands. "Kagome, oh Kagome, it was horrible being without you! You don't know how I felt! Why did you have to leave? Why did you have to throw me against the wall? Why...WHY, KAGOME...WHY?!"

"I'm being controlled by a demon named Kojigoku, Sango, so I can't really control my actions. Right now, I'm free from his possession, I don't know why, but I am. So I'm using this time to be able to explain."

"Okay...so right now, even though you're, err, possessed, you can sometimes have your own mind, err, back?" Sango asked.

"Well, yeah, basically. And I'm sorry if I suddenly go berserk on you."

"I'm sorry, Kag, but this is a little...strange..."

"If I were in your place, yeah, I'd agree with you."

Sango nodded and stepped closer towards Kagome. Again, she held out a shaking hand to try and touch the girl in front of her. She felt the soft material of the black shirt Kagome was wearing and she raised her hand to touch her hair. Sango touched her own hair to make sure that she was real, too.

"San, I am real." Kagome said quietly.

Sango nodded.

"Wait—right—there." Sango muttered as she reached around for the phone without taking her eyes of Kagome, in case she'd vanish again.

Sango dialed a number and held the receiver up to her ear and continued to stare at Kagome.

"Hello?"

"Yeah, Miroku, uh, it's me. Listen, I have something to tell you... Kagome is over here, it's really her! She's real, Miroku, real!"

"Sango, how...how can you be so sure?"

Sango was getting impatient.

"Because she is, Miroku! If you don't believe me, come over here and see for yourself."

"Okay, I—I believe you. I do."

"Good, then. Well, I'd better get off here then...talk to you later..."

"Bye."

Sango hung up the receiver and found Kagome lying on the couch, playing with Kilala. She sighed in relief; she thought she had lost Kagome again! Sango walked over to the couch and sat down next to Kagome. All of a sudden, Kagome's presence felt cold, and her eyes burned like fire. The younger girl glared at Sango and stood up, towering over her.

"K—Kagome...?" Sango whispered fearfully. "Please—control yourself, Kagome!"

But it was too late.

Kagome had already lost her sense to control herself. She smiled evilly and raised a clawed hand in the air, ready to swipe at Sango. Sango gaped at her, then realized what was going on, and jumped out of harm's reach. Kagome slashed at the cushion where Sango once sat. Sango collapsed to the floor and gazed up at Kagome, who was trying to get her hand out from the cushion. She stood up and half-ran, half-walked to the other side of the room, pondering what she should do to help her friend.

But Kagome had already gotten her hand out and stared widely at Sango. Sango stood there, unmoving, and whispered softly, "Kagome, it's me, Sango! Don't! Don't do this! You're not like this! I—I know you can't control yourself...but try to! You have to, Kagome! Kagome, don't...don't, Kagome...KAGOME!"

Kagome had slashed her claws out at Sango. Sango stared sub-consciously at the large gaping cut on her shoulder and collapsed to the carpeted floor. As she lay there, she stared up at Kagome, who was starting to walk away. The room started to spin. Sango uttered softly, "K—Kagome..." and she fell unconscious on the floor.

Kagome opened the door and slammed it shut behind her. She was gone...


Sango slowly opened her lidded eyes and gazed around at the surroundings. She then jolted awake and sat bolt upright. She had just remembered: Kagome had been here! But a small voice inside her head muttered, "But was it just a dream, Sango...?" Sango told herself, "No! It—it wasn't a dream! I saw her!"

She pulled back her pajama shirt to find a large, but uninfected cut on her shoulder.

Sango sat transfixed as she stared at it.

She knew Kagome could've done worse...

...But Kagome chose not to...

...Did that mean that Kagome still had some of her sense in her?

Sango jumped slightly when she heard a knock at the door; she saw Miroku standing in front of it patiently. Sango stood up shakily and covered her wound with her flannel shirt. She slowly made her way to the door. A pale hand reached and turned the knob on the door and it swung open.

Miroku stood there grinning, and then asked, "So...where is she, Sango?"

"She...she left..." Sango replied softly, not meeting Miroku's wondering eyes.

"Sango...something's wrong. Wh—what happened?" he asked with a worried tone, his eyes trembled and he held her in his grasp; Sango winced in pain.

Miroku gazed down at Sango and he felt her for a wound. As he touched her shoulder, she winced, hissing quietly. Miroku stared sadly in her eyes and pulled back the collar of the shirt. His jaw dropped slightly as he saw five large cuts scratched alongside her shoulder blade. The blood had dried, and now it just left a scar.

"Sango, she—she hurt you..." he whispered as he pulled her closer to him, tears gathering in his eyes. "...She hurt you..." he repeated quietly.

"She was possessed, she couldn't control herself! She told me before when she came here and I called you up, a demon named Kojigoku is possessing her, so she can't control her actions."

"But if she was possessed, then how could she talk freely to you?" Miroku queried.

"Because Kojigoku wasn't controlling her at the time...I could tell. Kagome's eyes weren't burning; they were her normal green eyes. I knew it was her."

"Well, I guess..." he sighed. "C'mon, I'll clean those cuts for you."


"OW! It stings!" Sango screeched as Miroku wiped alcohol with a piece of cotton on her shoulder.

"There, that should do it." Miroku muttered as he put a cloth bandage over her wounds.

"Thanks..." she muttered softly.

"I'm sorry that she hurt you, Sango. I really am..." Miroku pulled Sango into a tight embrace; she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face into his chest. Sango didn't want this moment to pass by; it was just Miroku and her. The two felt as if time would go on forever, as long as they were in each other's arms. Nothing in the world could change that. Nothing...