A/N: Thanks everyone for reviewing last chapter. I really appreciate it. And thanks, Karen, for using my story as your book report! Feeling like a true writer

I'm having a really hard time with character names because in my story people have mothers and fathers and in the anime, people don't. So I think I'm just going to have to make up names, I guess. I really don't know. Hope it turns out okay.

Chapter Fifteen

The Truth Must Come Out

Kagome had stuffed herself full. Sango was right; the food was absolutely delicious. "That was the best meal ever."

"Yeah, I can't eat another bite." Sango had never seen Kagome eat so much before. "I'm glad you liked the food."

Kagome smiled. The food was good. She probably won't have eaten this much on any other day, but today, she was trying to forget about Inuyasha and it was harder than she expected. Her mind would always wonder off and think about him. How she and him were in the woods together that one night. Just the two of them…

"It's getting awfully late. Do you want to head back or just spend the night here?" her friend asked.

"Can I stay here for the night? There are a couple of things I want to talk to you about."

"Of course, Kagome." Sango looked worriedly at Kagome. They headed up the stairs silently and sat down on Sango's bed.

She took a deep breath and sighed. "I just can't help… but think about Inuyasha. He's been in my mind ever since he left. When he was here, I had wanted him gone. I thought of him as an annoyance. But now," she paused, "…I feel like a part of me is missing, because he's not here by my side. Whenever he's around me, I feel protected… and cared for. And now that feeling has gone."

Sango could not believe what she was hearing. Kagome was the one to tell her how much she hated and despised Inuyasha, and now she was telling how much she missed him.

"Do you love him?" Sango asked carefully.

"I don't know… I don't know, Sango." Kagome hid her face in her hands. "I don't know if I do. We had known each other for just a short week, but it seems to be so much more."

Sango hugged Kagome, trying to comfort her. Kagome dug her face into Sango's shoulder and tears came. She had been holding in these tears ever since Inuyasha left and now that she let them go, relief came to her.

"I just," Kagome said through her sobs, "I just… want him back."

"But you know," Sango didn't want to sound harsh, "Inuyasha left. You have no idea where he is now."

Kagome took the back of her hand to wipe away the tears. "I know that. But it's my heart. I want him back. He made me feel warm… and I think that I do …love him. I didn't know that I felt this way, until it was all too late." Kagome had said it. She loved him. Even though she didn't want to believe it… her heart told her that it was the truth.

There was silence between them. "Don't worry about me, Sango. I just needed to tell someone all my feelings. And now that I have, I feel better now," Kagome smiled encouragingly, "I'm going to be alright. I'll learn to forget about him." She laid down on the bed, ready for some sleep.

Sango didn't believe Kagome. "Do you want me to see…"

"No, you can't help me in this situation. I'm going to deal with my feelings myself."

"Kagome…" She wanted to help Kagome out, but she didn't know how she possibly could.

"What is there to do? He's gone to some other city, probably having a great time, not even thinking about me. Let's just get some rest and tomorrow I can wake up to a beautiful sunrise and forget about everything that happened last week." She laid down and closed her eyes, not wanting Sango to pursue the issue any further. She wasn't even sure about her feelings right now. Just as long as she didn't fall deeper into this feeling of love for him, she could still try to undo it.

"You can't forget." Her voice was soft, trying to talk some sense into her friend.

"So how are things going with you and Miroku? Getting any closer?" Kagome sat up, knowing that she would not be left alone.

"Don't try to change the subject."

"Oh, come on. Tell me," her eyes widened when she saw Sango blush, "So there is something going on with you two?"

Sango shook her head. "Of course not!" she defended.

"Oh yes, there is."

"I think it's time that we go to bed now. It's almost midnight."

"I'm not sleepy." Kagome wanted to know what was going on between Sango and Miroku.

This time, Sango laid down and closed her eyes. "Night, Kagome."

"Fine. But in the morning, I'm going to get it out of you."

Kagome slept next to her friend and smiled at her before going to sleep. "I'm glad that you can find love. Love that won't leave."

&

In the middle of the night, men sneaked into the back of Sango's mansion. They opened their empty storage and started to carry in many bags. The bags were heavy and the men were exhausted after they complete their task. The storage was full of the very top when they locked it.

&

At the crack of dawn, Inuyasha had already dressed in his white robes that he wore to his father's funeral the previous day. The monk was outside waiting for him.

"I'm ever so sorry for your loss." The monk bowed his head to the new emperor.

"It was just so… abrupt. There are still some things that I want to tell him and ask him. But I can't."

The monk didn't reply. He just walked straight ahead, saying some prayers to himself.

They climbed into the carriage. The coffin was in the back. The ride would take all morning, until they reached their destination. Inuyasha glanced back at the coffin. "I won't let you down," he said to his father.

&

Kagome had woken up in the middle of the night to some rustling outside Sango's bedroom. She had woken Sango up, but Sango was determined that it wasn't anything but the wind and fell back to sleep. Kagome didn't think much about of it after that, and went back to sleep.

In the morning, she rose to a beautiful sunrise, just as she wanted. "Everything is going to be okay," she said and smiled to herself.

She walked over to the window and pulled back the curtains to let in the sunlight. Kagome looked out at the perfect clear skies. Then her attention turned downwards. People crowded around near the corner of the yard. Their voices were harsh and sharp. Sango's father looked very bewildered and angry.

Kagome started to worry. "What was going on?" she thought.

"Sango," she walked over and woke her friend, "There's something wrong. I don't know what, but I think you should go down there."

Sango rolled over and opened her eyes. "What?" she mumbled.

"Out in the backyard. Your father doesn't seem too happy. I think something happened."

Sango jerked up. Her father was not a morning person and he hardly went out into their backyard. "My father? What is he doing in the backyard?"

"I don't know." Kagome pulled at Sango's arm to drag her down the stairs to find out some answers.

"My father never goes out in the backyard. He's always busy and thinks that the lawn is for the servants to care for and the kids to play in, but never for him."

They stepped outside barefoot.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Sango's father roared at one of his guards. "This storage is supposed to be empty. How am I going to explain this?" He pointed at the storage. It stood full of bags among bags of rice.

"How did…" Kagome began asking Sango.

"That was empty yesterday. We never keep anything in there. We had kept some dry foods in there a couple years ago, but it got infested with mice, so we stopped." She stood there just as confused as anyone else.

"Dad?" Sango made her way to the middle of the crowd.

"Not now, Sango." He didn't even look at her. He was too busy thinking about how such a thing could've happened.

"Someone is trying to frame me…" he said at last. "If anyone finds me with this much rice, they'll accuse me with corruption."

Eyes widened. They all knew that this was probably the most logical explanation.

"But… who?" Sango's mother asked. She looked pale and frail.

"It could be any one of the officials in town. I don't why though." He rubbed his forehead.

"What can we do? Should we remove all these bags?" Sango didn't even want to begin to think of all the consequences her family would face once someone found out.

"Where? There has got to be at least a thousand bags of rice in there."

"Those sounds last night. If only I had gotten out of bed, maybe it wouldn't have happened. I might have been able to stop them," Kagome thought to herself. She felt guilty for not having done anything.

As Sango's family was trying to figure out what to do, there was on knock on their front gate. One of the guards walked out to see who it was.

The guard returned, with Kouga and his father. "Stop! You can just barge in like that," yelled the guard that was running after the pair.

Sango's dad quickly closed up their storage.

"Yang, good morning." Ximong, Kouga's father, smiled. His eyes gleamed in the morning sun.

"Good morning." He extended his arm and Ximong grabbed it firmly, grinning. "What brings you here this early?" Yang, Sango's father, and Ximong have never been good friends.

"I have heard that you have been accepting money… illegally."

"FROM WHO?" Yang yelled, louder than he should have.

"I can't disclose that kind of information, but I do have a way to check."

"You won't find anything." Yang looked confident.

"Just open your storage."

"What!" He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Oh, scared?" Ximong smirked.

Before Sango's father could respond, Kouga had already unlatched the door.

"So you have been doing some underneath the table dealing."

"No… no…" Yang was at a lost for words. "Someone framed me…" he thought, but didn't say aloud.

"I'm sorry for breaking this news to your family." He looked at Sango and then to her mother. "But I think I have to take you into custody."

"You can't take me for finding rice in my storage."

"I can if there's about a thousand bags of it." Ximong pulled out of scroll. "I have permission as the official of this city." He showed Yang his agreement as an official.

"You could have never known it was here… unless… unless you did it!" Yang was about to punch Ximong, but Kouga pulled him away faster.

"Good day everyone." He turned to leave; Kouga right behind.

Kouga pulled Yang's hands to his back and shoved him forward. He turned around to speak to his family, "Sango, take care of your mother. I'm innocent. They can't do anything to me," he said reassuringly and Kouga pulled him away.

"FATHER!" Sango yelled. Her mother was crying.

"Kouga!" Kagome yelled. She wanted to know how they had known about this.

"Not everything will go your way, darling." And he walked away, taking Sango's father.

A/N: Things are not looking to well for him. What is Sango going to do about it? She's not going to sit back and watch, I can tell you that.