Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha

In a World of Demons

Chapter 4: A Promise

"Have her friends been disposed of?" He asked nonchalantly, figuring he knew the answer already.

"No, not yet, my lord."

The statement stopped his good mood short. "What?" he yelled.

"There appears to be no need to. She seems to have sent them away on her own accord, my lord."

He smiled. "Maybe there's more hope for this girl joining us then I originally thought."

Kagome woke up alone, no one else in her bedroom. She felt oddly empty and drained of all emotions. With a sigh she got up, preparing herself for the long day ahead of her.

A month had gone by and Kagome still refused to speak with them. They visited often offering apologies among other things, but she would have none of it. She just wanted to be alone, away from them. They obviously did not seem to understand that at all, since they kept showing up. Then a pang of guilt went through her as she remembered what happened yesterday and she willed herself not to cry again.

She trudged to the bathroom and leaned against the counter, her hands grasping the edge and her nails biting deep into the wood. She looked up into the mirror in front of her then quickly glanced down. She did not want to see her reflection.

She closed her eyes, remembering one particular time Sango had come to visit her on her own.

"Why did you never tell me?" Kagome yelled as she paced in her room.

"Because we knew you'd react this way! And would not let us near you! So we couldn't tell you!" Sango yelled back, arms crossed while standing near Kagome's door. She wanted to be close to the door if Kagome started to throw things at her again. Last time she had been lucky since the only thing in Kagome's reach had been stuffed animals, but this time she could start throwing heavier things like her alarm clock.

"So, you were going to do what? Never tell me my whole entire life? Just follow me around until we were old and gray? This was going to happen eventually, you must have known that."

Sango kept silent. She had known it on some level and she had feared this was how she would have reacted.

"So why not just tell me when you first got here, when we were in middle school together?"

"Because they said you were too young then."

"Who the hell is they?"

Sango ignored the question and continued with what she was saying, "they didn't want to tell you at such a young age. They wanted to tell you when you were ready, when you were older, but…"

"But what?" Kagome yelled.

"But they kept delaying it, fearing how you would react. If you got angry enough…. Kagome, you don't know how much power you really have! You could've blown up the school if you got angry enough and if your power reacted on its own accord and lashed out. Or they thought that you might have gone to join the demons just to spite us."

"They think that little of me, do they?" Kagome said with a harsh laugh. "And you thought that too? That I would join the 'dark side'?" She asked it mockingly. "You really don't know me at all then. It's all true. You're not really my friend at all, you never were."

"Kagome…"

"Get out," Kagome growled menacingly.

Her eyes shot open. Looking at herself in the mirror, she could tell they were full of sorrow. She should not have spoken so harshly to her. Maybe she should just let them explain… but every time she started to let them talk she always got angry and sent them away. She missed her ex-friends dearly. They had constantly been around her, now she understood why, but she hadn't been complaining then. She liked to be with them and laugh with them, joke with them. Now it felt like a part of her was missing. She had known them for so long… and they had been her constant companions. She had gotten in trouble with them, sent to detention for pranks pulled on the teacher with them, but now… just the feeling of emptiness.

She hadn't felt like herself in weeks. It was like she was half-dead without them around. All she could do was remember all the good times they had together and feel remorse knowing that they might never happen again.

The demons, on the other hand, had made no other attempts to kidnap her. Well, there had been that one night, but Inuyasha had shown up just in time to save her.

She was walking home from her job, humming a tune she had just heard on the radio. When she hummed, it kept her occupied and she was less afraid of what might be lurking in the shadows. No one had attacked her since Hiten and Manten had gotten a hold of her, so she was due to an attack sooner or later.

And sure enough, just thinking about it caused it to happen. A lone demon stepped out from the shadows and into her path but she could not find it in herself to be scared. She felt herself being very empty lately.

"Hello, girlie," the demon said, "why don't you come along peacefully and I won't have to get rough."

Before she could come up with an insulting reply, someone jumped down from the roof and kicked the demon in the head. It was Inuyasha, of course. He plunged his hand through the demon's heart and then took it out and let the dead demon crumple to the floor. The demon had been stronger then the first five they had sent after her put together, but the demon was still weak compared to Inuyasha. It was good that they did not know of him yet because that way, the demons they sent after the girl were the lower class ones, thinking that any demon could take out a human girl.

Inuyasha looked over at the girl for some sort of praise but she stood with her hands on her hips. That was never a good sign.

"How did you know I was going to be here?" she asked, then added, "and happened to be getting attacked?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "I didn't know. It just so happens, I like to hang out on top of that roof," he pointed, "and so I keep hearing you get attacked by demons."

Yes, it seemed so long ago that he had saved her from the demons, which was the official start of her encounter with the demon world and the worst month of her life. Inuyasha had saved her that night, tended somewhat crudely to her arm, and brought her home to her bed.

"That remind me. I forgot to ask you last time, how did you know where I lived?"

He looked very uncomfortable by the question and he began to blush. "I saw you walk home one day."

Which translated to: I followed you home. Oh great, now she had stray dog-demons following her home. Her mom would be so disappointed. That meant he had followed her home before he had even met her. Why? She pushed away the question, figuring it was just because he was drawn to whatever powers she had.

"Don't you have a home?" Kagome asked, sternly.

"Yes!" Inuyasha answered gruffly, "I just don't go there that often." He seemed to want to change the subject. "So are you going to make up with your friends—" he saw the look she was giving him and changed it to, "—those two any time soon? Because I don't want to have to save you all the time."

"Not likely," Kagome said, referring to her making up with them.

"Look they lied, okay? Everyone lies at some point in their life," Inuyasha said angrily, "they lie and they hurt people, and the people forgive them. It's a part of life. Now go and make up with your friends."

He jumped up and was on a roof of a building and was out of sight in seconds, leaving a stunned Kagome behind.

She clutched the counter even harder then before. No, Inuyasha was wrong! She couldn't forgive them, not yet anyway. It hurt too much to think of them. But she wouldn't have any time to forgive them because it was going to happen soon.

Because today was the day, the end of it all. She told herself she should be happy, but her heart hurt at the thought.

Miroku and Sango were leaving.

Saturday morning

one day earlier

The phone was ringing. Did she have to call everyday? It was not like Kagome was going to actually talk to her. Everyday Kagome would pick up the phone, Sango would begin to talk, and Kagome would hang up on her thirty seconds later after picking up the phone.

Kagome sighed, telling her mom she'd get it, and walked into the kitchen to the phone. Before answering, Kagome noticed a few chocolate chip cookies that here mom had just taken out of the oven. She grabbed a small plate and put a cookie on it. She picked up the phone and held it between her shoulder and her ear, while one hand held the cookie that she had just taken a bite of, and the other held the plate underneath it so that the plate picked up all the crumbles.

"Yeah?" Kagome mumbled as she swallowed a piece of cookie. Not that she did already know who it was, but she could not just keep silent. She had to say something to show that she had indeed picked up the phone.

"Kagome?"

"…" She was going to count to thirty and then hang up. She did not care what she had to say.

" We… Miroku and I… we're leaving," Sango voice said hesitantly through the phone.

Kagome's cookie fell out of her hand and onto the plate below it. Her hands trembled slightly. She shook her head faintly, thinking, no, she most have heard wrong. Somehow she knew she had not.

"Wh-what?" Kagome asked.

"We're leaving. It's obvious we're only hurting you so we've been told to pack up and leave," Sango said. Her voice had some emotion in it, but Kagome couldn't figure out what.

What happened next was like it was in slow motion. The plate dropped from Kagome's hand and fell to the floor, shattering with the impact. The phone dropped from where it was between her ear and shoulder and fell, hitting first the counter and then the ground with a large clang. Kagome knee's buckled, causing her to collapse on the floor, her rear hitting the ground hard, but she did not seem to notice, even as piece of the broken plate nicked her arm. Her mom was yelling at her, screaming if she was all right, but she did not hear it. She did not hear any sound except what she was thinking.

No, No, this couldn't be happening! They couldn't be leaving! Sure she had been angry and felt a lot of betrayal, but that didn't mean they had to leave! But they had been ordered to go. They probably did not even care that they had to go, they just thought they had to inform her.

"Kagome? Kagome!" Sango's voice buzzed through the phone. She must have been screaming for her to have heard it. Kagome didn't even know where the phone had landed, but she was surprised it had not broke from the fall.

Kagome drew her knees up to her chest, her head rested on her knees, as she slowly rocked back and forth in a fetal position. Her mom was shaking her, but she hardly noticed.

She was going to be all alone again, like it was when she was younger. When she was a small child hardly anyone would want to go near here. For some reason, they all shied away from her and she now understood this was because of her powers. The normal humans recognized she was different without them even knowing why they didn't want to be around her, but they never questioned it, they just stayed away from the odd girl. Kagome had always been so lonely, the only one who would keep her company was Hojo and he got annoying quick. Then, one day in middle school, a new girl had shown up, by the name of Sango, and wanted to be her friend and she couldn't have been happier. Then around a year later another boy had come and he too wanted to be her friend and for once in her life, she felt normal.

Until last month when she found the real reason for it all. Sango and Miroku might not be her real friends, but she liked having them around nonetheless. And now, they would be gone.

Kagome glanced at the bandage on her arm. That plate had nicked her good yesterday. It had been a deep cut, but her mom had wrapped it up nice enough. Her mom still had wanted to bring her to the hospital but Kagome talked her out of it. She felt guilty because her mom had no idea what was going on in her life and was puzzled by her daughter's strange behavior all of the sudden. Kagome did not want her mom brought into it. She wanted her to feel safe in the world and not know that there were demons out there. Demons that happened to want to kidnap her daughter because she had some kind of supernatural power.

She could just picture her mom becoming paler and paler as she explained and then fainting on the floor. No, she was definitely keeping her mom out of this, for as long as possible. Hopefully, she would never have to tell her.

Her mom had not wanted to leave her alone at all that day, but Kagome insisted, giving her mom a bright and very fake smile. Finally, her mom had given up and gone to work while Souta had gone to his friend's house, leaving Kagome all alone in the house.

She had lied. She had not wanted to be alone.

But she had not been alone for long.

Saturday night

one day earlier

For the length of the day, Kagome had tried to keep herself busy. She had watched television, read, did anything to keep busy. After her outburst that morning, she had felt completely void of emotion. She walked around her house much like a zombie would, dragging her feet along, not sure where she was going, or what she was doing, no thought going through her head. Just… nothingness.

That night she found herself sitting on her bed, her knees drawn up to her chest, sitting like she had that morning, but nothing seemed to be going through her head. She heard a soft tap on her window and looked at it vacantly. Moments later it slid open and Inuyasha jumped into her room, closing the window quickly so that the night's cold air did not fill the room. She stared at him blankly as he walked toward her. He stopped when he was in front of the bed. Kagome's face was expressionless. She felt, no, was empty. Nothing at all was going through her mind.

"So, baka," Inuyasha said casually, "made up with those two yet?"

Just staring up at this strange boy, she felt herself open again and at his words the shield she had up all day after Sango's phone call came crumbling down.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried out, her eyes brimming with tear.

Before Inuyasha knew what she was doing, Kagome had flung herself at him, crying into his chest. Inuyasha put his arms around her and hugged her, awkwardly at first. He had never held a crying woman before. It had been strange at first, but then he tightened his hold on her, giving her a comforting squeeze. He closed his eyes, just liking the feeling of her clinging to him and the warmth of her body against his own as she sobbed uncontrollably. He rocked her back and forth, while running one hand through her hair.

"Don't cry. It'll be alright," Inuyasha told her.

Kagome stiffened when he spoke. Well it wasn't going to be now! He had just ruined it! What did he know, anyway? He didn't even know the reason why she was crying! She felt herself get angry and was about to retort something when she felt his lips against her forehead and any response she might have had was gone as she melted deeper in Inuyasha's arms.

He kissed her forehead and laid his cheek against the top of her head as she relaxed in his arms and snuggled up against him, pressing her soft body against him. He stroked her tear soaked cheek and he heard Kagome take in a deep shaky breath as her tears began to stop falling.

Inuyasha felt her begin to drift to sleep, as her breathing became soft and rhythmic. He was intoxicated by her. Her smell… she smelled like strawberries and the fresh new day that began at dawn and…. and under all that, power. Her smell, along with her power, filled him, spreading throughout his body. It aroused him and that's when he knew he had to leave.

She felt herself be lulled asleep as Inuyasha held her close while rocking her ever so gently. She felt him move her, pulling away. She made a small sound of protest, though she refused to open her eyes or move, being hardly conscious anyway.

He was now hovering over her, his knees on either side of her waist, as he placed her head gently on the pillow. His eyes fell on her lips and then moved down her body that lay so perfectly under him, his eyes filling with desire, but he pushed the notion away. She was hurting at the moment and he could not, would not, take advantage of her. Any advances he made that she returned interest with, she would have regretted in the morning when her head was cleared and not filled with sorrow.

He was about to move away when her arm came up and clasped together behind his back, startling him and bringing his body down onto hers. He put his arms on either side of her shoulders to keep their faces from meeting, but otherwise his body was on top of her lush form. Still their faces were only inches apart as though daring him to kiss her and he could not get up because of her arms around him.

Kagome opened her eyes slowly, obviously more asleep than awake at the moment, otherwise she would have realized what she was doing. Her eyes closed again, but she let her arms fall to her sides and Inuyasha immediately rolled off her. He did not notice how fast his heart was beating until just then. He sat up to leave when Kagome's hand grabbed his arm.

She hadn't moved her head from where it was on the pillow but her eyes were open and were filling with unshed tears.

"Stay," Kagome asked softly, "please."

Looking into her eyes as they were about to start overflowing again, he could not say no. He could not make her cry again. He laid down next to her on the bed and brought her to him, molding his body against hers long after she fell back asleep.

When she had woken up the next morning, he was gone and the comfort he had given her was gone with him. Kagome was alone again. Her bed felt oddly cold without the warmth he had shared with her. She found her cheeks burning just by thinking of him in her bed last night. The only thing he left behind was his scent. He had smelled like the forest, a fresh and clean scent that tickled her nose, but she would rather of had him there to hold her once again. She could not deal with the fact that they were going to be gone.

The tears kept threatening to come back. She could not believe they were leaving. They couldn't do this to her! They had lied… and now they were leaving. She'd never, ever forgive them if she never saw them again. She was allowed to be mad at them now, she had a right to, but that did not mean they were allowed to leave! But why should she care? Let the traitors fall off the edge of the earth for all she cared. For all she knew the earth could be flat also and they had been keeping that from her too. She hoped they fell off it.

But deep down, she did not want them to go. She wanted them there so she could yell at them and for them to fell sorry that they hurt her. And then when she was ready, she could forgive them. If they left now they were never really her friends at all.

The phone rang and she ran from the bathroom into the kitchen. She made a dive for the phone and picked it up.

"Hello?" Kagome asked, out of breath.

"…" A small intake of breath was all that was heard on the other end.

"Sango?" Kagome inquired.

"We'll be leaving at two from my house," she said. She paused, then added, "we won't be coming back, Kagome. After today we'll be gone for good and you'll never hear from us again."

Click.

The phone went dead in her hand before Kagome could even think of a response.

It was one fifty-five.

Kagome sat on the couch, staring off into space like she had been doing for hours. She wasn't moving from that spot, not one inch. Let them leave at two o'clock for all she cared. They should be coming to her to say goodbye, she should not have to go to them.

Kagome felt the tears come again and now she let them fall. Her best friends would be gone in five minutes and she probably would never see them again. Miroku… Sango… if those were even their real names. Funny thing to be thinking when two very important people in your life were about to disappear forever. If she did not see them now… she'd never see them again.

Who was she kidding? She jumped out of the chair and was out the door in a flash. It was pouring out but that didn't phase her for a second. She had to get there before they left. If she didn't…

"Sango," Miroku called softly. No response. He tried again. "Sango, it's time to go."

Both were drenched with rain. They had been waiting outside the house next to the car they would be using to leave for nearly a half an hour, but nothing on the street seemed to change. Everything was eerily silent, the only thing that could be heard was the rain that was pouring down from the sky. No one went outside, no one passed by. It was as though time was frozen.

Sango looked frantically down the street, searching for any sign of Kagome, but there was none. She was not coming. Sango felt the tears coming, mixing with the rain on her face and falling to the already wet ground. She felt Miroku embrace her tightly from behind, bringing her close to him. Her head was leaning back against his chest and his chin resting on the top of her head as they both watched the street from the way Kagome would come. If she was coming at all.

"I'm sorry," Miroku murmured to her, "I know you wanted her to come."

Sango tried to keep from sobbing, but her body began to tremble instead. If Miroku had not known she was crying before, he did now. She tried to be angry with Kagome for not even seeing them off, but she couldn't. Kagome had every right to be angry with them. The best thing right now was for them to leave and for them to send new people to look after Kagome. From what Sango saw, Inuyasha seemed to be taking good care of her anyway. She did not need two people who had lied to her for years; she needed some new protectors, ones she could trust. She'd have never been able to trust her and Miroku after what they had done to her.

Sango glanced at her pinky finger on her right hand that had a pink ring on it, a pink ring that had come out of those machine you put twenty-five cents in and got a prize, and thought of Kagome. After all they'd been through together she was sure Kagome would have at least come to say goodbye…

"It's alright. I never gave her the chance to tell me if she was going to come anyway." Sango looked up at Miroku and gave him a wilted smile. "It's not like… it's not like she has…any reason… to… to…"

She couldn't help it, she began to sob. Miroku kissed her lightly on the cheek. She was too depressed to feel surprised at his display of affection, but it did stop her sobs, though she continued to cry silently. Miroku had his own small smile on his face though his eyes held a deep sadness in them.

"Let's go, we can do no more good here," Miroku told her gently.

He opened the car door for her and let her slide in then went around to the driver's seat. He looked down the street for only a moment then turned on the key in the ignition, the engine roaring to life.

Kagome ran as fast as she could. She'd get there in time, she just knew it. If she doubted it, she knew they would leave. So just as long as she believed they would still be there.

Please, let them be there, Kagome thought, desperately.

She had to tell them… had to let them know…

Sango had been by her side from the very beginning on, now Kagome had to return the favor. Just as long as they were still there she could make it better.

Kagome leaned against the school building while outside during her lunch period. Another start of another year of school. Although it was different this year because it was her first year of middle school and she got a lot more freedom between walking from class to class and all. She had just been in this new school for a week and already she did not like it. She was meeting more new people who had come from different elementary schools but now they were going to the same middle school and already she didn't like them. Already people were being defined and put into groups. Oh, this person goes in the "popular" group, and this guy, well, he belongs with the "nerds".

Kagome rolled her eyes at the thought, not caring what "group" they put her in. It's not like she had any friends anyway, so it didn't matter. She always paid more attention to herself and her schoolwork then other people.

She could already begin to hear the boys whispering about the hot eighth graders. Did they understand that they were just eleven years old? It would be funny if it wasn't oh-so sad. She was ashamed on behalf of her whole class.

"Check out the legs on that girl…"

"… that's the girl that rejected him."

"…no I think the blonde is hotter…"

And so it went on and on. Before long Kagome couldn't take it anymore.

"Would you just shut up already? It's not like you're going to get one of them. You're eleven, you dolt."

They all turned to look at her in a menacing way. Kagome had made a big mistake. These boys looked like they were out for blood and it wasn't just because of what she said, although that was most of it, it was just because nobody really liked her in her grade or any other grade in fact so they jumped at the chance to insult her.

"Don't talk to us like that," one of the larger boys said. He grabbed her arm and dug his nails painfully into her skin.

"Just leave her alone," another, strong looking boy said.

"Why should I, Kouga? The bitch should be taught a lesson."

He dug his nails deeper into her skin, drawing blood and Kagome yelped. She pleaded with her eyes for the boy, Kouga to help her, but he wasn't looking at her. He shrugged and walked away, leaving her to the other boy's wrath, but not before saying, "don't say I didn't warn ya." She wondered if he had seen the look in her eyes he might have stayed and helped, but it was only a fleeting thought.

Kagome resisted him and stomped on his foot, but that only made him grab her other arm and dig in even harder than before. She spit in his face and kicked him in the shin over and over again, hoping he would have a huge black and blue the next day.

"Why don't you let the girl go," said a girl's voice.

A girl stalked over to the boy who was holding her, not even glancing at the other two around him, which angered the forgotten two. She was taller than Kagome and looked a lot stronger. Her black hair was pulled up in a high ponytail.

"And what are you going to do about it?" the boy taunted.

"This."

The girl brought up a fist and punched the guy in the face and he stumbled backward. She kicked him in the stomach as he stumbled, causing him to fall to the concrete blacktop and hit his head. He lay there moaning in pain while the two others made a run for it, leaving the hurt boy behind.

Kagome glanced at the girl who saved her while she rubbed her arm where five crescents were carved into her skin, bleeding, but only a little bit. Kagome was leaning against the building again, halfway between standing and sitting.

The girl offered her a hand up and said, "hi, I'm Sango. I just transferred."

She took the offered hand, saying, "Kagome. Been here forever, unfortunately."

Sango looked shocked. "Are you really her?"

Kagome was puzzled by Sango's expression. "Yeah, why? Have you heard of me before?" Then Kagome felt depressed again. Sango had probably talked to the other students and had already learned about Kagome that why she was shocked. She must have regretted saving her. No one ever liked Kagome.

Sango gave a half-smile. "You could say that. Yeah…er… the other students were talking about you. From what they said I thought you would be taller and a lot more menacing. Either that or someone who's frightened of their own shadow."

"Well I'm not either of those." Maybe this girl actually wanted to be her friend.

Sango grinned. "I can see that. You seemed like you were able to handle yourself back there. I just thought I might lend a hand. Come on, let's go get some lunch and we can trade war stories."

Kagome grinned back, taking the invitation, feeling very happy indeed. She had just made her first true friend that day and she would do her best not to lose her.

No, Kagome would do her best not to lose her friend if she could help it. And now, Kagome now understood Sango's words.

Yeah…er… the other students were talking about you. From what they said I thought you would be taller and a lot more menacing. Either that or someone who's frightened of their own shadow.

When Sango had told her that, she hadn't meant the other students, she had meant the person who sent her. Whoever sent Sango had put a total different image in her mind of what Kagome might be like. She had not expected to like Kagome, but she had anyway.

Kagome was drenched down to the bone and the rain started to come down harder but she did not care. Instead, she picked up the pace.

Kagome searched for her best friend. Two months had gone by since their first meeting and the two had been best friends ever since. She was worried about Sango. She had said she would meet her twenty minutes ago, but she was not here. Sango would not have just left her here waiting all alone and if she was not going to come she would have called Kagome before. Something was wrong, she just knew it.

Someone was racing toward her. Sango? No, she recognized him as Hojo, her only childhood friend. His breath was laboring and his shirt, drenched with sweat.

"Kagome!" Hojo screamed.

"Hojo, what is it?" Kagome asked him anxiously.

Hojo was having trouble breathing. "Sango…behind deli… angry eighth graders…" he gasped.

That was all Kagome needed to hear. She made a run for the deli going as fast as she could. That boy Sango had beat up to save Kagome had sworn vengeance on both of them, but mostly just Sango. Could this be it? Getting some eighth graders do the job for him? What a coward, but Sango could be getting hurt because of that coward.

Kagome kept running even though her leg muscles screamed in protest and she could hardly breath. She had to reach Sango before anything happened to her. She'd never forgive herself if she did not. Sango had been her first real friend. She had never cared about what others said, just excepted Kagome for who she was nothing more.

She reached the alley behind the deli and found her eyes widen. There must have been ten teenage boys standing over a limp body of a sixth grader. Obviously they were all over the age of thirteen, judging by their frames. These were definitely not just eighth graders.

Her eyes fell again on fallen her friend. Was she even still alive? Screaming bloody murder, Kagome charged at the boys who had hurt her best friend.

A sad smile came to Kagome's lips as she remembered how devoted she was to Sango that day. Kagome then glanced at a scar she still had from that battle. The day after that fight, they had both been covered in cuts and bruises. Sango had fractured her arm and Kagome had nearly bled to death from the cut across her right wrist that was now a scar. The two had then made a promise to always look out for each other and never leave the other behind again.

Kagome glanced down at the ring on her pinky finger. If she let Sango leave now, they would both be breaking their promise.

Kagome and Sango sat together, laughing as they remembered the teacher's expression when he found he was glued down, literally, to his seat. It was an old prank but still a favorite of theirs. Of course, they were found out right away, mainly because Sango could not stop laughing before the teacher even sat down. They'd both received a month's detention but it was worth it. It was not so much how the teacher sat down in the chair, no it was mostly thinking of how he was going to get out of it. He would either have to try to pull himself until he got out, which was unlikely, or he would have to take his pants off. She had a feeling that that teacher was not about to get up at all that day, unless he happened to have an extra pair of pants with him. But the best part of all was when he rolled his chair out of the classroom all the way to the principal's office.

So now, that was where they sat, in the principal's office waiting for what she would say. Before Kagome had heard a lot of yelling coming from the room next to the office where the principal and the teacher had been talking, but now the principal sat in front of them, her hands clasped on her desk.

The principal knew them very well by now, having had them down in her office quite often after fights or after they pulled pranks just like the one they had just pulled. Scratch the last best part, the real best part was how the principal's lips kept twitching, trying not to smile as she gave them a stern lecture. The thing was, she liked the two trouble makers. She had once told them, confidentially, that they reminded her of herself at that age. That was the only reason they never got kicked out of school. Yet.

But the principal only lectured them and agreed with the month's detention their teacher had promised. She then went back into the other room to continue to argue with the teacher who changed his mind and wanted them expelled for their latest prank.

What the two girls did not notice was that there was a boy all the way in the back of the principal's office who had heard the entire thing. The boy got up and made his way toward the two seventh grade girls.

"How long have you been here?" Sango asked him sharply.

"Long enough to know that I am gazing upon two very crafty beauties," he said.

He picked up Sango's hand and gave a gentle kiss to the back of her hand. She was too stunned to say anything. The boy did the same to Kagome, which made her turn a deep shade of red. While kissing her hand he said, "enchanted, I'm sure. And what might your names be, lovely maidens?"

"Sango."

He raised an eyebrow at that and spoke his words, carefully. "Sango, is it? I'm Miroku."

Sango gasped softly. They seemed to exchange a glance of enlightenment that only confused Kagome. Had they met before? But no, he had asked their names, so what was with the glance?

Miroku turned to her, the coy smile back on his face. "And you? What might your name be?"

"Kagome."

Again, he lifted an eyebrow at her and glanced very quickly at Sango.

"Ah, I should have known," he muttered to himself, though Kagome heard. He spoke to both of the, saying, "Kagome and Sango together. Mind if I join in on your pranks next time?"

Kagome smiled cheerfully at him and responded, "sure."

He could not help smiling back at the joyful girl that stood in front of him and exchanged another meaningful glance with Sango. She seemed to understand his slightly startled nature and he nodded, giving him a knowing smile. Miroku had not wanted to come at first but standing her with two lovely girls in front of him, he could not help but think he was going to like it here after all.

And just like that, that was how the friendship of the three of them had started. Thinking back now, she understood those glances between Miroku and Sango. He had been informed that Sango was already there with Kagome and he too had been expecting a different kind of person and was surprised when he met Kagome for the first time.

She had overlooked so many details of the past, details that told her that they were really her friends. She just had not wanted to believe them. She had wanted to feel angry at them for lying to her for so long, but in reality they were her friends. They were never ordered to pull pranks with her and help her get out of detention. They were never ordered to go to the mall or the movies with her. Sango did not have to call her and invite her to sleep over or to go out to have some fun, she did that because she wanted to, because she was her friend. Why had Kagome acted so stupidly? Of course they were her friends!

And now she had to go and tell them all of that before they disappeared from her life forever.

Kagome was now in a full sprint, urging herself to go as fast as humanly possible. Her heart was racing, her breath laboring but she wouldn't let herself slow for even a moment. The harsh rain blinded her for moments at a time but she ignored it. Kagome could walk to Sango's house blindfolded if she had to, that was how many times she had gone there. She would get there no matter what and throw herself on the car so they wouldn't be able to leave until she convinced them not to go.

Sango's house was in her view and her heart leapt with joy she ran toward the house and… and…

Her heart stopped and her blood turned to ice as a feeling of pure dread came upon Kagome. The car was not there. It was not in the driveway. No… no… NO! She searched frantically and saw it heading down the street. She legs were tired and she could hardly breath, but she ran after it screaming, waving her arms in the air.

"Wait! Stop the car!" were her frantic screams. "Miroku! Sango! Stop!"

But the rain was coming down too fast and her voice could not be heard by the people in the car. She continued to run after it, pleading silently for it to stop, for whoever was driving to glance back and see someone was running after them. Forcing back tears, she continued to call out, knowing it was useless.

"Wait! Please don't go, don't leave me! Please."

The car turned the corner and Kagome abruptly stopped running, staring at the empty street in front of her.

They were gone.

Her legs gave way under her and she fell to her knees in the middle of the road, her legs useless. The tears came instantly, flooding her eyes and falling to the ground along with the rain around her. She was on her hands and knees on the road while her body shook as she sobbed uncontrollably.

No this wasn't happening. They couldn't be gone. This was all a dream… no a nightmare. Please, let it be a nightmare that I can wake up from, Kagome thought.

"Come back," Kagome whispered, her voice cracking as she pleaded with the deserted street, "please come back."

She never got to tell them that she wasn't mad at them anymore, that they were her friends, her best friends and that she loved. They were gone from her life forever, never coming back and they left thinking that she hated them. That she hated them so much she had not even come to say goodbye.

She sat there in the middle of the road, weeping as thunder boomed overhead. She did not care that she was in the middle of the road, daring, maybe even hoping, for a car to come along and hit her.

"You promised me!" Kagome screamed at the empty road. "You promised you would never leave me behind!" She couldn't even see anymore, her eyes blurring with tears. "You promised," she whispered.

Kagome was covered in bruises and she was extremely lightheaded. The doctor had told her she would be like that for a few since she had lost so much blood when the eighth graders had cut her across her wrist. He said he was amazed she was even still alive.

It was now the day after that fight where the boys had almost killed both her and Sango. She wasn't sure why neither of them were dead, but for some reason the boys had backed off. The two girls did not know why because they had both been knocked unconscious at the time. The deli owner had found them later on however and had immediately called 911.

But Kagome could not stop crying. It wasn't because she was scared about what had happened, no, she was use to getting into fights with older boys with Sango at her side. No, she was crying because the boys had taken something from her, something precious.

Sango had come to visit her that day, but had only found a hysterical Kagome. Kagome's mom did not know what was wrong and left it up to Sango to find out.

"Kagome, why are you crying?" Sango asked her softly.

"It's gone… lost forever…" Kagome cried silently, not looking at her friend.

"What's gone?"

"The boys… they took it…my dad's…and it was mine…" Kagome sobbed.

Sango hugged her friend. "Just tell me what happened."

So after an hour of incoherent mumbling Sango got an idea of what was wrong and then she was gone, but Kagome was too grief stricken to notice.

She could not believe they had taken it. It was as though they had taken her still beating heart out of her chest and stomped all over it. Which was not a good analogy because they had seemed like they had wanted to kill the two younger girls just yesterday and taken something of hers to make up for not killing them.

It was the only thing her dad had ever given to her and all the memories she had of her dead father were tied in with that necklace he had given her. Kagome remembered how he had sat her in his lap and rocked her gently back and forth then presented her with a necklace. He had told her it was an old family heirloom and that all the woman on his side of the family were given it, so it was given to her right after her grandmother had died. He put it around her neck and had gently rocked her back and forth until she was asleep.

And the bullies had taken it away from her. The only thing of her father's that she had left. The only thing she remembered about her father.

It was well past midnight that night when Kagome heard a knock from her window. She opened it and Sango climbed in. She had climbed up the tree to her window, which was quite an accomplishment with one hand in a cast.

"What are you doing here?" Kagome asked, perplexed. She eyes were red and the tears were still falling. She wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone at the moment.

"I have something for you," Sango said slowly. "Now close your eyes."

"Sango, please, I don't want to play any games," Kagome told her.

"You'll like this, I promise."

Kagome closed eyes, the tears still falling through closed eyes.

"Hold out your hand."

Kagome obligated. She felt something cold and small fall into her hands. It was at least some part metal.

"Now open your eyes," Sango commanded.

Kagome did as she was told and her eyes widened as they fell upon the object in her hand.

"My…my necklace…" Kagome looked at her, her eyes drying for moments. "But how did you…?"

"I went back and got it for you."

Instead of being overjoyed like Sango thought she would be, Kagome became angry. She took her pillow and began to beat Sango with it, careful of her arm with the cast.

"You idiot!" Kagome yelled, her eyes starting to tear again. Then she threw herself at her friend to hug her and whispered, "you could have been killed!"

"No, I snuck into their hideout when they were gone."

"But why didn't you tell me? I would have gone with you!" Kagome yelled. She kept going back and forth between happiness and anger.

Sango shifted nervously. "I didn't want you to get hurt."

"Well you could have gotten hurt also! Never leave me behind again!"

Sango nodded and said, "alright. We'll look out for each other from now on."

Kagome shook her head. "Promise me. Promise me you'll never leave me behind again."

Sango nodded again and raised her right hand. "I, Sango, promise to always look out for you and to never leave you behind again. Now you."

Kagome mimicked her, raising her right hand. "And I, Kagome, promise to always look out for you and to never leave you behind." Kagome laughed suddenly. "I feel like I should be knighted now and be given a sword or something."

"Well, here." Sango walked over to her dresser table and looked at the contents on top of it. She found two pink rings that come out of that machine when you put twenty-five cents into it, and gave one to Kagome. "This is how we'll remember our promise."

Kagome put it on her pinky finger. It was way too big, but that meant she would be able wear it when she got older too. She raised her pinky finger and Sango raised hers and locked them together in a pinky swear as the girls smiled brightly at one another.

Kagome was being weighed down by her clothes. They were well over soaked through but she could not bring herself to move from where she sat in the road and the tears would just not stop coming. Kagome was not sure if they would ever stop.

She was not sure how long she knelt there, she only knew that it was a long time. Her breathing had long ago returned to normal and so had her heartbeat but she was far away from calming down. Kagome kept sobbing and shaking involuntarily as she stared dully at the pavement.

She had no one now. No one to spend day after day with. No other friends. She was just alone.

The thunder that had been booming stopped a long time ago and now the rain began to let up. Soon there was no rain at all. The cloudy sky began to disappear and the sun came out. Its warm beams fell on her, though they did her no good. She was sure the world was torturing her for being so foolish.

If only she had looked back into her past before, then they never would have left her. She would have realized earlier that they were still and always had been her friends. Just because they were sent to protect her did not mean they had to like her, but they did anyway. They must think horribly of her now and were probably angry at her for not showing up. Even if they were not angry at the moment, they would be later and she could not blame them. She had been a horrible friend toward them for the past month. They deserved go somewhere where they were wanted. But she wanted them, wanted them to be her friends once more.

"Kagome, why are you crying?" a voice in front of her said. Had see imagined it? She continued to look at the pavement, not wanting to look up, because if she look up, she wouldn't be there.

"They're gone… lost forever…" Kagome said softly, the words taken almost right out of her memory.

"Who's gone?" was the whispered question.

She felt little droplets of water fall onto her hands. No, not water, they were tears. Someone was crying. She looked up, slowly afraid of what she might see.

And there they were. Sango was standing over her, tearing falling from her eyes and Miroku was standing next to her with a watery smile on his face. Were they really here? Had they come back, or was her mind playing tricks on her? Had she passed out and not even noticed it? There was only one way to find out.

"Sango! Miroku!" Kagome jumped up, not even noticing the pain in her legs, and hugged her two friends and they hugged her fiercely back.

All of them sat in a heap in the middle of the road, all of them crying, though Miroku only contributed a few tears. He was a man, so he felt that he needed to be composed at all times which made Kagome smile slightly just thinking about it.

"Why did you come back?" Kagome asked faintly.

"Because I made a promise."