Chapter Fourteen

Confessions

Sango pulled over as they reached the outskirts of the city, parking near a bus stop.

"We can't ride around Tokyo like this or we'll get a fine," she hissed, shaking her head as Kagome got off the motorbike and helped Sara do the same.

"My family's not home. We'll meet you there, Sango. We'll call a taxi and be right there," Kagome replied, shooting Sara a meaningful look.

Sango looked at her two friends with concern.

"Are you sure? Wouldn't you rather come with me, Sara?"

She shook her head.

"I'm a little dizzy. I'd rather go by car."

Sango sighed.

"That's all right. I'll wait for you there, don't be long."

Kagome, who was on the phone, nodded. Once their friend had disappeared down the end of one of Tokyo's avenues Sara held Kagome's arm tightly.

"We need to talk."

The taxi driver promised to be there in ten minutes. Kagome hung up the call, staring at her friend.

"Yes, I know. What happened? Did you pass out before you got in?"

"No... I went inside, though I don't know if it was all a dream or if it really happened. It's too unbelievable to be real."

Kagome swallowed nervously. She had felt the same way that day, but the painful wound near her neck had confirmed what she had experienced in the forest.

She placed a hand on Sara's shoulder and leaned closer.

"What did you see?"

Sara was silent for a few seconds, thinking about the answer.

"First tell me the truth, Kagome. Did you see anything in that forest when you were there?"

Kagome shivered with her friend's dark eyes on her. It was time to come clean.

"Yes," she admitted in a whisper.

Sara closed her eyes, sighing.

"It wasn't a dream, then..."

"What did you see, Sara?"

She opened her eyes again and her face paled slightly as she remembered what had happened.

"At first there was nothing, just nature and darkness. The silence made my hair stand on end, but suddenly I heard something crawling towards me. When I turned around, there was a..." Sara inhaled sharply, letting out a shaky breath. "It was a monster, a yōkai. And next to it was an even bigger one hissing at me. They looked like snakes, but they were huge. I tried to run and a third demon stood in my way. I remember closing my eyes, thinking that my end had come..."

Kagome wrapped both arms around her friend, pulling her tighter against her body. Sara was trembling so much.

"I heard a strange noise as if something was cutting through the air. When I opened my eyes, I saw a yellow light around me hitting the yōkai. In a few seconds, all three were dead and their remains were scattered on the ground. That yellow light flew back, and as I looked up, I saw a... a... It was another demon, Kagome. But it was very different, it had a human form. The yellow light was around his fingers, and when he looked down at me... The last thing I remember was his golden eyes."

Kagome let out the breath she had been holding in her lungs.

A demon with golden eyes? It all seemed awfully familiar.

"And what happened, then?"

"I woke up because you were calling me," Sara replied quietly, holding a hand to her forehead.

"You passed out and then woke up outside the forest?"

Sara nodded.

"Who would get you out of there?" Kagome asked, her eyes widening in surprise.

"I don't know, though I do remember the feeling of moving and seeing something red... A red jacket? I'm not sure, but someone was carrying me."

"A yōkai saved you? No way, they... they don't do that," Kagome murmured, feeling a small sting in the wound near her neck.

Her right hand flew to her shoulder, covering it, and Sara noticed.

"What's wrong there, Kagome? Does it hurt?"

"I was bitten, Sara. They dragged me into the forest and a demon bit me. I still don't understand how I managed to escape from there, I was sure I was going to die."

Sara's whole body trembled again.

"For gods' sake, Kagome," she breathed, holding onto her tighter.

"You don't have any injuries, do you?"

Kagome had looked at Sara's arms and shoulders when they found her, but those monsters could have bitten her elsewhere.

"No, I just have a headache and I'm still a little dizzy."

The taxi appeared around the corner, moving towards them. Kagome leaned closer to her friend's ear, speaking very softly.

"We may be the only people who have escaped from there alive. We can't talk about this with anyone, Sara."

Sara nodded nervously.

"What are we going to do about Sango?" she asked, glancing sideways at her.

Kagome let out a long sigh.

"I think she deserves to know the truth. But no one else, Sara. This has to stay between us."

"I know."

The car pulled up beside them and Kagome let go of her friend, giving the taxi driver a fake smile.

"Come on, we could use a cup of hot tea to calm us down."

"Yes, please," Sara murmured, opening the door to the back seat.

A hot drink in Kagome's house would be like heaven. She still felt frozen, just as she had felt when the golden-eyed creature looked into her eyes.

Stepping out of the taxi, Kagome saw Sango's motorbike parked by the shrine staircase and her friend sitting on one of the steps, shaking one of her legs nervously.

"Finally," Sango snarled as they reached her, standing up.

She glanced at Sara and her face softened. Their friend was still very pale.

"Come on, we'll help you up," she added, taking one of Sara's arms.

Kagome took the other and the three of them started up the stairs in silence. She could feel the tension emanating from Sango's body. She was very, very angry.

Once they reached the temple courtyard, she let go of Sara and walked to the front door of the main house.

Kagome sighed and followed in, Sara still on her arm. She opened the door and her two friends entered, leaving their shoes in the corner and moving into the living room.

Glancing at the kitchen counter, she smiled when she saw that Sango was already putting the kettle on. Her two friends had been visiting her house since they were very young and felt very comfortable there and it was as if they were her sisters.

Kagome placed several biscuits on a plate and sat down next to Sara, who had her arms stretched out on the table and her chin resting on them.

"Are you very mad at us?" Sara asked in a whisper.

Sango set three mugs down on the table a little too hard, which more or less served as an answer.

"My two best friends keep things from me. How do you want me to feel?" she muttered, retracing her steps to turn off the heat.

Kagome leaned her elbows on the table, covering her face with her hands.

"We didn't mean to do it, Sango... but you work at a police station. If you report us, we'll most likely end up in jail."

Sango put the kettle down on the table and sat across from them, a frown on her face.

"Do you really think I would have ratted you out?"

Sara blinked in confusion.

"You swore an oath. You should expose us."

Sango narrowed her eyes in her direction.

"Our friendship is more important than any fucking oath."

Kagome felt her heart shrink. She reached out and grabbed Sango's hand, squeezing it lovingly.

"We'll never keep anything from you again, Sango. I give you my word."

Her friend's hard gaze fell on her and Kagome shivered.

"You'd better. And I want you two to tell me everything right now. In every detail."

"Everything?" Sara repeated, her eyes widening as she lifted her head.

Sango nodded, clenching her jaw.

"All of it. No more secrets."

Sara and Kagome exchanged a glance and the latter sighed.

"I guess I'd better get started on my story," Kagome murmured, pouring the tea into the three mugs.

Sango folded her arms, leaning her back against the chair.

"I have all the time in the world, girls. And I want the truth."

Sango shook her head for the fifth time.

Her face had been losing colour as she listened to Kagome's story, and she felt even worse when Sara related what had happened to her after entering the Forbidden Forest.

The yōkai didn't just exist in the children's stories her parents had read to her as a child. They were real, they lived hidden in those sinister trees and they had attacked her two friends.

Sango clenched her fists, feeling her nails dig into the palms of her hands.

"So... A golden-eyed demon destroyed the ones who wanted to kill you?"

Sara nodded and Sango glanced at Kagome.

"And you were also saved by another golden-eyed demon, but then it lunged at you and bit you."

Kagome nodded, pulling the collar of her shirt to the side to show them the scar.

It looked much better and was starting to lighten, it would be white soon and would blend in better with the pale tone of her skin.

"That wound looks like it's more than a couple of weeks old, Kagome," Sara commented, scowling at the scar.

"I know. It doesn't make sense but it healed so quickly. After two days the scab was gone and three days later it was healed," she replied, shrugging one of her shoulders.

Sango clicked her tongue.

"That's impossible."

"It's what happened," Kagome added with a sigh.

Sango pursed her lips, replaying all the details of the two stories in her mind.

"You don't believe us?" Sara asked, looking stricken.

She rolled her eyes.

"Of course I do. Do you think this demon you two are talking about could be the same one?"

Sara and Kagome looked at each other again, remembering those golden eyes.

"The yōkai I saw wore something red, but Sara says the demon wore a white suit with purple and red trim."

"And he had a crescent moon on his forehead," Sara added, mumbling under her breath.

Kagome looked back at Sango.

"The one that attacked me wasn't like that. They're different demons."

She nodded thoughtfully.

"And those animal-shaped yōkai were very different, right?"

"They were like giant animals, but the demon that saved me was not. He looked human, though I remember sensing a very powerful aura around him."

"Do you remember if his eyes turned red?" Kagome asked, setting her empty mug down on the table.

Sara shook her head.

"They were golden. I've never seen such beautiful eyes."

"Because they're not human, Sara. That's not a normal eye colour," Sango said, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"The first one who attacked me with a glowing whip also had red eyes," Kagome commented, unconsciously holding a hand to her neck.

It was as if every time she remembered that day the scar hurt all over again.

Sara gasped and Sango suddenly tensed.

"What's wrong?"

"A glowing whip! I saw it too, Kagome. It's the light I said, the demon used something bright and yellow to kill the other yōkai."

Kagome blanched.

"That thing attacked me and saved you? I don't understand."

"And the red clothing that I thought I saw... What if it was the same demon that bit you? Maybe the two of them know each other and are often together."

The image of that being transforming before her flashed in Kagome's mind. Its eyes darkening, its fangs elongating...

She shook her head firmly.

"That yōkai would have never saved you, Sara."

"Maybe it felt bad about what it did to you and wanted to make up for it by getting me out of there."

Kagome snorted, giving her friend an incredulous look.

"Felt bad? It wanted to eat me!"

"I don't think those demons feed on humans," Sara added in a whisper, dodging her gaze.

Sango listened to their conversation in silence, one hand on the table and her fingers drumming impatiently.

"Now I understand why it's forbidden to go in there. That place couldn't be more dangerous."

Kagome's eyes searched for her friend.

"I think the Forbidden Forests in other countries are just like ours. They must be full of demons, too."

Sango nodded.

"Probably."

"What are we going to do now?" Sara asked, chewing on her lower lip nervously.

Sango and Kagome stared at her.

"What's with that question? We're not going to do anything, and you're both going to stay well away from that forest for the rest of your lives," the former replied, giving her a cold look.

"Exactly, Sara. We can't share this secret with anyone else, and we've been very lucky to live to tell it. The demon forest is hell on earth and I never want to hear about it again," Kagome added, suppressing a shudder.

Sara twisted her lips to the side but nodded.

"Okay."

Sango smiled for the first time, holding her best friends' hands.

"I'm so glad you two are all right."

They both returned her smile.

"And so are we, Sango. This all could have ended very badly," Kagome murmured, standing up to clear the table.

Sara sighed, resting her chin on one of her hands.

"The yōkai are real... I still can't believe it."

"Neither can I," Sango said, snorting softly.

Kagome returned to the table and set three full glasses of sake on it.

"I think we should drink to the end of my exams... and to us being alive."

Sara gasped, a hand flying to her mouth.

"Kagome! That's right, this morning was your last exam. How did it go?"

A smirk curved Sango's lips.

"You know it went well, just like every other one she's taken. You have Dr Higurashi, future oncologist of Tokyo, in front of you."

Sara jumped to her feet, pulling Kagome into her arms.

"And we're going to be working in the same hospital! This is so great!"

"I don't know if we'll be seeing much of each other, Sara," Kagome mumbled, trying to hide her blush.

"At least we'll eat together every day, right?" she asked, pulling away to look at her with sparkling eyes.

Kagome nodded with a smile.

"Of course."

Sango raised her glass.

"To Kagome and to humans. Fuck those damn demons!"

Kagome and Sara laughed, raising their glasses as well.

"To Kagome!"

The laughter of the three humans was piercing his ears. They were too loud.

Inuyasha cocked his head, looking down from the branch where he sat. Kagome's two friends were leaving the house, bidding her farewell with hugs and kisses.

Shortly after leaving Sara out of the forest, he had run up the hill to the Higurashi Shrine and, after climbing the largest tree in the huge stone courtyard, had hidden in the branches to wait.

The three humans soon appeared, climbing up the steps together.

He had listened to their entire conversation carefully because he wanted to know what Sara could remember. They were inside the house, but that was no problem for Inuyasha's ears.

All of his muscles had suddenly tensed when he heard Kagome telling the story of the day he had bitten her. He didn't like remembering it.

And finding out that Sara remembered most of it had only put him in a worse mood.

Those two humans were dangerous. They knew too much.

Once Sara and the other human were gone, Inuyasha leaned his back against the trunk of that tree and snorted in annoyance.

He knew he couldn't kill them. He wasn't capable, and he didn't want to.

As long as they stayed out of the forest they would be safe. No other demon could get out of there, and he didn't plan to do anything.

It was the first time he had seen Sesshomaru since Kagome entered the forest. Inuyasha had been avoiding his brother, making sure he wasn't around when he went to Taisho Palace to see Shippo.

Sesshomaru hadn't tried to talk to him either, but the time had come to seek him out and stand up to him. They couldn't avoid each other any longer, especially when the same thing had happened to both of them.

They needed to face what was happening and Inuyasha wanted to tell him what it was like to be around Kagome every night, making sure she wasn't having nightmares.

Telling the human the truth was not an option. He could imagine her shrieking and running as far away from him as possible when she discovered he was the demon who had attacked her in the forest.

Inuyasha would continue to watch over her sleep to make up for the damage he had done to her, but the need to be near her was growing stronger and he was finding it hard to control himself.

He needed his older brother's advice, and sooner rather than later. Though he suspected what Sesshomaru was going to tell him.

Inuyasha sighed, watching the sunset absentmindedly.

The next dark night was only five days away.