Chapter Twelve

Lying

The next morning Inuyasha was lying on one of the branches of a tree near the border of the demon forest. He had waited until dusk to return there.

It was harder for any human to spot him in the dark. Their night vision was poor.

Inuyasha picked up his phone, staring at the screen silently. The battery was charged again and it was almost ten in the morning.

He needed to talk to her. He would go crazy if he didn't hear her voice again.

Inuyasha clenched his jaw and clicked Kagome's name on the screen, jumping up to the highest branch of the tree.

He snorted when he heard the fourth beep. She was going to ignore him that day as well.

"Inuyasha?"

The air left his lungs all at once. He leaned his back against the trunk and let out a sigh of relief.

"Kagome."

Neither of them spoke again for what seemed like minutes. Inuyasha didn't know what to say, and he could hear Kagome's breathing quicken. She was angry.

"I was worried about you," he added in a whisper, closing his eyes and shaking his head as he heard himself.

Pathetic.

Kagome snorted.

"You lied to me, Inuyasha. You told me it wasn't dangerous."

"I looked for you everywhere, but... I got lost, Kagome. Sometimes I get disoriented in the forest and I couldn't get a signal. When I went out I called you, but you didn't answer the phone."

"I was attacked! I almost died in there!"

He felt his heart racing. He didn't like her voice when she was mad.

"What?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Inuyasha! There's no way you haven't seen them if you've been in that damn forest as many times as you say you have."

Inuyasha furrowed his brow. Now he was completely sure she hadn't recognized him in his half-demon form.

"What are you talking about, Kagome? Are you alright? What happened to you?"

He heard a choked sigh, as if she was trying not to cry, and clenched his fists to contain his anger.

"Did you really not see them?" Kagome asked in a low voice.

"See what? Who attacked you? Tell me, Kagome!" he demanded, gritting his teeth.

"The demons! They are not a legend, they live in the forest and they came for me."

A gentle breeze stirred his long silver-white hair and a few strands of it tangled in the leaves of the tree.

Inuyasha worked his jaw, narrowing his eyes. It was hard to think of what would answer a human who had no idea what went on inside the Yōkai forest.

"Are you sure it wasn't an animal? I've seen bears in that forest sometimes."

"I saw two demons and one of them knew our language. I heard it speak Japanese, Inuyasha! And then it lunged at me and bit me!"

Inuyasha closed his eyes and tried to control the heat he was beginning to feel under his skin, coursing through his veins and searing everything in its path.

Remembering everything that had happened was making him furious. If he wasn't careful, he could turn into a yōkai and Kagome would have nightmares for the rest of her life if she heard one of his growls over the phone.

"It bit you? Where?"

"On my shoulder, very close to my neck. I thought I was going to bleed out, it was the worst moment of my life," she murmured, sobbing softly.

Inuyasha looked up at the sky, counting the clouds to distract himself from thinking about how much he wanted to destroy something... or someone.

"I can't believe you didn't hear my screams," Kagome added, almost voiceless.

She began to cry and Inuyasha's heart shrank.

"I'm sorry, Kagome. I didn't see or hear anything... This is all my fault."

"You should have waited for me. Why did you go there without me?"

"I don't know, I'm used to walking alone in the forest and I didn't think anything bad would happen. I would never put you in danger, Kagome. You have to believe me."

Two days earlier those same words would have been a big lie, but Inuyasha realised that he meant it. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her again.

He heard another sob and lowered his gaze, biting his tongue so hard he tasted his own blood.

Inuyasha shook his head, sniffling. He was definitely going mad.

"Can you come to see me? I can't talk about this with anyone, only you," Kagome asked in a whisper.

He dropped his head back, hitting the trunk of the tree.

"I can't, Kagome. I had to leave that afternoon and I won't be able to return to Tokyo for another three weeks."

He closed his eyes as he heard her cry again.

"I'll call you every morning until I get back, I promise. And I'll come and see you as soon as I'm back in Tokyo."

"You really didn't see anything, Inuyasha? You didn't even hear my screams?"

"No."

Kagome let out a long sigh.

"I hate that you only spend one day a month in Tokyo."

"I'll stay longer next time."

Inuyasha sat down on the branch, relaxing his posture as he noticed his anger fading.

If Kagome calmed down, he felt better too.

"Promise me you won't leave me alone again," she demanded quietly.

"I give you my word, Kagome."

His ears twitched as he heard a thud. She had dropped herself onto her bed.

"When will you be back?"

"I don't know the exact day yet."

Inuyasha ran his tongue over his teeth. His own bite had already healed.

"How's your wound, Kagome? Is it too big?"

"It's fine... It's so strange, but it's healing very fast. It hardly hurts anymore."

Inuyasha smiled.

"I'm glad to hear that."

"I'm... Inuyasha, I have to study. I have an exam in three days and I need to concentrate."

"Okay, Kagome. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Yes, tomorrow."

After hanging up, Inuyasha bent his knees and hopped down to the ground. The leaves muffled the sound of his fall, though the gloom of the forest was not enough to hide his striking red jacket.

A lizard yōkai fixed its black eyes on him, snarling in his direction. Inuyasha made sure he had tied the phone securely to his belt before turning to face it.

He gave the demon a wicked grin, flashing his claws and crouching down to pounce on it.

He was still in the mood for a good fight.

Kagome set the phone down on the table, sighing and resting her head in her arms.

She was still quite angry and found it hard to believe that Inuyasha had never seen anything strange in the forest.

She thought about the photo he'd sent her the day after she'd met him, one of the proofs that he'd been in there.

What if she had been unlucky?

Kagome shook her head, snorting softly.

Demons were real and the Forbidden Forest was a very dangerous place. That was what really mattered.

She had to convince Inuyasha to never go into those trees again. Kagome felt a painful knot in her stomach at the thought of the yōkai catching him and never being able to see him again.

Her breath hitched as she remembered the conversation they just had.

Maybe she had been too hard on him, it wasn't really all his fault. She was a grown woman and walking into the forest had been her decision. She should have insisted that he came out to find her or called him, but Kagome chose to go after him.

They were both to blame for what had happened, not just him.

Kagome let out a shaky breath, closing her eyes. Two days had passed, but she was still very tense and nervous.

Her phone started vibrating again and she glanced at it, wondering if it was Inuyasha again.

She saw Sara's name on the screen and bit her lower lip, answering the call.

She couldn't tell her best friend the truth.

"Hello, Sara."

"You promised to call me and tell me everything, Kagome! I know you had an exam yesterday but I need to know how your little adventure went."

Kagome clicked her tongue, resting her chin on one of her hands.

"You know we can't talk about this over the phone."

"What if I visited you? We could have lunch together and you can get some rest from all that studying."

Kagome looked away for a moment at the mountain of notes on the right side of her desk, sighing.

"That's not a bad idea. My family's out and I'm alone."

"Great! I'll be there in two hours, I'll take care of the food."

"Okay, Sara. See you in a while."

"See you later!"

Kagome brought her hands to her face, tangling her fingers in her bangs after hanging up.

What was she going to tell her? She couldn't say anything about the demons, but she knew Sara too was very interested in the Forbidden Forest and she wasn't going to stop until she found out the truth.

Grunting under her breath, she reached out for her Anatomy notes.

Secrets always came out and Kagome still wasn't ready to accept what had happened.

She would have to lie to her. There was no other way.

When the doorbell rang Kagome dropped the pen and stood up, sighing as she walked over to the mirror in her room.

She didn't look as bad as she had the day before, but Sara was going to notice something was wrong with her. She tried to smile but gave up when she saw the grimace forming on her face.

Kagome moved the collar of her shirt slightly to the side with a finger, gritting her teeth at the sight of the pink, crescent-shaped scar.

At least it didn't hurt anymore. She just felt a little pinch every now and then.

Kagome left her room and ran down the stairs two at a time, running to the entrance.

And, once she opened the door, there stood one of her best friends.

"Kagome!" Sara shrieked, rushing over to give her a big hug.

She wrapped her arms around her, feeling better with her friend's presence.

"Hi, Sara."

"I've brought food for both of us," she announced, pulling away and showing her a bag as she took off her shoes.

Kagome gave her a small smile and Sara frowned.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing. I'm just tired."

Sara rolled her eyes, taking her hand and dragging her towards the dining room.

"You need energy. Sit down, I'll take care of everything."

Kagome sat in one of the chairs, watching Sara as she pulled plates and glasses from the kitchen cupboard and placed them on the table.

"Thank you," she murmured, smiling as she left a tray full of food in the centre.

Sara grinned, sitting down across from her with a pitcher of water in her hand.

"You look downcast. Didn't you enjoy the adventure in the forest?"

Kagome's whole body immediately tensed. She sighed, looking up at her.

"It was a disappointment. We only saw trees and a couple of squirrels."

Her friend furrowed her brow, cocking her head slightly as Kagome divided lunch into their two plates.

"Did you take pictures?"

Kagome shook her head.

"It wasn't worth it. It was all a little creepy, but otherwise it was just like any other forest. There's nothing special about it."

"How can you say that? You've been obsessed with those trees and all the secrecy about them for years."

"I don't know what to tell you, Sara," Kagome added with a shrug. "I haven't seen anything, and I still don't have an explanation for what's happening on Google Maps. I guess we'll never understand."

Sara's eyes went wide and she dropped her chopsticks on the table.

"Are you going to give up? Just like that?"

"What else can I do? There's nothing there and there's no explanation for what's happening."

"Maybe there wasn't anything where you looked. The demon forest is gigantic and I'm sure there's something hidden inside it."

Kagome ran her tongue over her teeth, averting her gaze.

"There is nothing, Sara. It's best to forget about it and move on with our lives."

Her friend narrowed her eyes.

"I get the feeling you're hiding something from me, Kagome."

A bead of sweat trickled down her back and she fixed her gaze on Sara.

She needed to convince her not to even think about going there. The further she was from the demon forest, the better.

"Why would I lie to you?"

Sara shrugged.

"I don't know."

"I'm telling the truth."

"Okay, fine," she grunted, picking up her chopsticks.

Kagome knew she wasn't convinced, though at least the questions were over. She began to talk about her remaining exams and Sara sighed.

"I can't wait for you to finish."

"Me too. I only have three exams left," Kagome murmured, her lips curling.

"And when do you start your internship at the hospital?"

"Next month."

"It's very exciting," Sara grinned, reaching out to take Kagome's hand in hers.

An image of a pair of red eyes popped into her mind. Kagome shook her head, clenching her jaw.

"Yes, it is. I'm finally going to be a doctor."

"I hope you get to spend time on my floor. I'd love to work near my friend," Sara commented, pouring herself some more water.

Kagome smiled for the first time in days.

"So would I."

Inuyasha had tried to resist, but in the end he couldn't help himself.

Even though it was daylight, he made his way back out of the demon forest through the part closest to the human's shrine. Crossing the magical barrier was still painful, but he could do it.

Slowly and very alert to any noise, he hopped from tree to tree until he reached the hillside. Once there, Inuyasha sniffed in all directions until he was sure no one was around and made his way up the hill, pausing when he reached the shrine.

Neither Kagome nor her family were in the courtyard. And there were no humans near the shrine.

Both of his ears twitched in the direction of the house and he squinted.

Two heartbeats. Kagome was not alone.

He decided to go back to the biggest tree of all so he ran to it, hiding in the highest branches.

Inuyasha laid down, leaning his back against the trunk and making sure he was well hidden.

His ears tilted to the left when he heard a female giggle.

He had not heard that voice before. It was not Kagome's mother.

Hours passed and the sun began to set.

Inuyasha wrinkled his nose as his stomach growled. He should have eaten something before leaving the forest.

He heard the sound of the front door and sat up slightly, peeking through the leaves to catch a glimpse of the unfamiliar human.

He furrowed his brow, looking down at her. She looked a lot like Kagome, though she was older and had darker eyes.

She turned, waving her hand in the direction of the house.

"Goodbye, Kagome!"

"Bye, Sara! Thanks for coming!"

"See you when you finish your exams!"

The human walked to the top of the stone steps and descended them as she hummed a song.

Inuyasha scratched one of his ears, watching her walk away. She was a friend of Kagome's, though he didn't remember her from the day he'd approached her at the disco.

He shook his head, clenching his jaw and looking back towards the house.

He had no interest in humans. Kagome was the only exception.

He would wait until she was asleep and go back inside to check on her.

The cricket sounds woke Inuyasha. He had fallen asleep watching the sunset.

He rested one of his claws on the trunk and leaned over, scanning Kagome's home in the darkness.

There was no light and he could hear her heartbeat on the first floor. She was already in her room.

He jumped down to the ground, climbing to the top of the roof. Like the other times, Inuyasha held onto the edge with both hands and let himself fall until his feet brushed the sill of her window.

Inuyasha touched the window frame and smirked.

It wasn't closed, she always left it open.

He pushed it to the right and got into the room, landing on the carpet.

Kagome was on the bed, mumbling something in her sleep. As soon as he got closer her face relaxed and her breathing returned to normal.

Inuyasha pressed his lips together, sighing through his nose.

He would stay the night again to keep her from having nightmares. It was the only way he could make it up to her for what had happened, and he was willing to do it every night until Kagome didn't need him.

He sat on the floor, leaning his back against the edge of the bed.

He heard her sigh and looked over his shoulder, watching her face. She was calm and her lips curved slightly as if she was smiling.

Inuyasha frowned and looked straight ahead again, shaking his head.

It wasn't a good sign that he cared so much about her. Everything was getting out of hand.