By Lady of the Ink

Rating: PG (might change)

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, but you knew that . . .I hope. But I do own this plot and all the twists that it takes.

Kagome woke to a sore throat and a decidedly fuzzy feeling in her head. She sat up slowly, growling slightly at the stiffness that she knew came from sleeping in an uncomfortable position. As she blinked open her heavy eyes, she got her first good look at her surroundings and froze. The room she sat in definitely wasn't the one she was expecting and she was quickly swamped with a wave of confusion.

The space was much larger than she was used to; two or three of her own bedroom could have easily fit inside with room to spare. Light showed around the edges of two big windows which were otherwise covered with layers of curtains. The entire room was done in shades of mulberry. The thick carpet on the floor exactly matched the decorative border at the top of the cream colored walls. With the dark wood furniture that filled it, the room could have seemed oppressive, but there were just enough light touches to keep it from closing inward.

Kagome realized instantly that a professional must have done the room. It would have taken a lot of talent for someone to make this massive room look cozy and elegant at the same time. This brought a bit of bewilderment until the events of the night before came back to her in a rush. She remembered what had happened in the waiting room and the walk to this room with Sango.

Even though the room was warm, she shivered. Everywhere she looked was reminder after reminder that she was in a world very unlike the one she had grown up in. The huge mansion that she would be living in for the next several months was nothing like the home where she had been raised. At that moment, she would have given anything to be back at the shrine with its drafty halls and worn furniture.

Knowing that that train of thought would send her into a dark mood if she continued it, Kagome forced herself to get out of bed. With no idea what else to do, she set about unpacking her suitcases. She had brought almost everything that she owned with her but even that barely filled a fourth of the walk-in closet and two drawers of the antique looking dresser. Even so, she found some comfort in seeing her books on the empty shelves and pictures of her family on top of the dresser.

Kagome paused with one picture in particular in her hand. It had been taken just a few short weeks ago at the party her mother had thrown to celebrate her graduation. All of her school friends had already left, leaving only the people who lived at the shrine. She stood in the center of the shot, the hairstyle that she had labored an hour on falling over her shoulders. Her mother stood on one side of her, one hand resting on her arm as she smiled proudly. Her grandpa was on the other side with Kohaku and Souta kneeling in front of him. Both were making the worst expressions that they could stretch their faces into while simultaneously giving each other bunny ears.

The person who Kagome's eyes lingered on the longest was Sango. The older girl stood beside Mrs. Higurashi, a shy smile on her face. What had she been thinking at that moment? By then she had known about Kagome's imminent departure. Had she felt even the slightest bit guilty about her lies then? Did she now?

There was a soft knock on the door before the very person that she had been thinking of poked her head inside the room. Kagome quickly placed the photograph face down on the dresser and took a step away from it before looking up. Sango stepped into the room without a word, pulling the door closed behind her. She then stood there with her hands clasped in front of her. If Kagome hadn't known better, she would have sworn that she was nervous, but what did she have to be nervous about?

Silence stretched between the two of them as they both studiously avoided looking each other in the eye. Finally Sango let out a loud breath and took a step forward. "Look, Kagome, we need to talk."

Kagome's first instinct was to order her out. She was still angry and hurt over what had been revealed the night before. It was a crushing blow at a bad time to learn that her best friend had been lying to her for years and wasn't a true friend at all. But at the same time, there was a part of her that wanted to know the whole story, that refused to believe that their entire friendship, as close as it had been, was a lie.

That was the part of herself that she wound up listening to in the end. With a terse nod, she moved to take a seat on the edge of the bed. Sango followed her lead, sitting at the other end. With a deep breath, she launched into her explanation.

"My mother died not too long after Kohaku was born. My father worked hard to support us and so I wound up with the almost fulltime job of raising Kohaku by myself. I was still a kid then but I also knew that it was my responsibility to do the best that I could. Kohaku was so sweet and gentle even then that it never occurred to be to resent all the demands that he put on me.

"It wasn't until my father was killed that I learned exactly what he had been doing. It turned out that the job that kept him so busy was being a sort of bodyguard. I didn't understand why he'd never told me that until the day his boss came to see me after the funeral. It was Inuyasha's father, although I didn't know him at the time, and his wife had been the one my father was helping to protect."

"Wait a minute. Who's Inuyasha?" Kagome hated to interrupt but the way that Sango had said the name caught her attention. There was an infliction there that made her think she was supposed to know who that person was with no explanation.

Sango looked a little startled before realization dawned on her features. "Inuyasha is the person who brought you here. You met him last night: the grumpy, bossy guy? He's half demon but not a lot of people know that. Inuyasha isn't exactly a normal name and so he goes by Suya Hian to the people who think he's just the average business guy."

"Oh, it's an anagram," Kagome said, quickly rearranging letters in her mind.

"Exactly. Anyway, his father came to see me after Dad died. He wanted to make sire that we were taken care of and so he offered us a place to live.

"Dad had already been teaching me some things but it wasn't until I read a letter that he had written in case something happened to him that I learned everything. He wasn't just any type of bodyguard but one trained specifically to handle demons. It was a sort of family tradition and what he had taught me was supposed to be my introduction to it as well. He had also left these journals from other family members that had tips and lessons in them that had been passed down for decades."

She ducked her head slightly as she made her next admission. "Even though my dad was gone, I wanted to make him proud by following through with the dream it was clear he had had for me. I also wanted to pay back Inuyasha's father for taking in two kids when there was no obligation to him to do so. I started following what the journals said, training as hard as I could stand every spare moment that I had. It wasn't long before I became pretty good at it.

"By that time, both of Inuyasha's parents had died and so had your father. Inuyasha was being pushed into a hundred different things that he didn't want to do and he had come up with this plan to buy himself more time and freedom. All he needed was for someone to watch after you until after you had turned eighteen. I volunteered right away since the cover story would allow me to bring Kohaku along, too."

Sango finally looked up to meet Kagome's eyes, her expression carefully neutral. "Your mother knew the truth of course, but she was the only one. Even Kohaku didn't know why we were really there. My mission was to keep you safe and it didn't matter how many lies I had to tell in order to accomplish it."

Kagome winced and turned away at the final line. Although she had braced herself for the topic, hearing it from Sango's own lips seemed to make it even more painful to hear. It made her feel as though she had been taken advantage of, not mention even more alone than she had felt before.

Sango hurried on as though she knew what Kagome was thinking and wanted to put her at ease. "But the only lies that I told were the ones that I had to in order to keep my reason for being there a secret. Aside from saying that my parents died in an accident and that my mom and yours were friends, almost everything that I told you was the truth. I didn't become your friend to keep you safe; I could have done that in another way. I became your friend because I like you. We have a lot in common and we have good times when we're together. You're a great listener and you can always make me laugh. We like the same kinds of movies and books and music . . ." Her explanation had started off as a mad rush of words that seemed to stumble over each other as they left her mouth and ended as she trailed off into a sigh.

Kagome stole a quick look at Sango from the corner of her eye and was shocked at what she saw. Sango looked more devastated than Kagome could ever remember seeing her before. Her shoulders were hunched so that her hair covered most her face. Her hands gripped each other tightly where they rested in her lap.

Kagome was torn. On the one hand, she had been deceived from the day that they had met. On the other, Sango seemed truly sincere. She sounded like she meant every word that she had said and Kagome wanted so badly to believe her. Their friendship had always helped to give her strength when she was facing a dilemma, and she was about to tackle the biggest dilemma of her life. Having someone to talk to in the huge house that was to be her home would be great, and Sango was the only one that she really wanted to consider for the job.

In the end, the years of friendship and closeness proved their bond stretched but not broken. Reaching across the space, Kagome gave a startled Sango a big hug. Before long they were both laughing and crying at the same time as they tried to talk. It was several minutes before they settle down enough to have a coherent conversation.

Wiping the tears from her face, Kagome took a deep breath and put on a stern expression. She wagged finger in Sango's direction. "Don’t think that this let's you off the hook, missy! You've got a lot of making up to do and I'm not going to let you forget it."

Sango assumed a pleading look. "Please Kagome, forgive me for what I did. I'm sorry and I'll tell you so every day of my life! I'll do whatever it takes to make this up to you! I'm begging you to give me a chance!"

Kagome couldn't hold back a giggle as she dropped to her knees and folded her hands beneath her chin. She widened her eyes and fluttered her lashes as she continued to plead. Raising one hand palm out in the symbol for stop, Kagome lifted and eyebrow as a memory came back to her from the night before. Learning the truth about Sango's entrance into her life had overshadowed it but now Kagome remembered it clearly. Not only was it something that she was genuinely curious about, but it might also prove to be the perfect revenge.

"I could be persuaded to forgive you if . . ."she began slowly, " . . . you tell me what the deal is with that dark haired guy from last night."

Sango immediately stood, her furrowed brow and rapidly darkening expression reminiscent of a gathering thunderstorm. Kagome was afraid that she had seriously angered her until she realized that the less than friendly comments that she was muttering under her breath were directed at someone else. Sango calmed herself enough to explain, although a frown remained on her face. "Miroku," she began, spitting the name with disgust, "works with Inuyasha. I'm not sure exactly what he does, but I do know that he's a total pervert. He can't be anywhere near a woman without making some kind of advance. Watch his hands whenever he's within arms' reach, and I seriously mean that. He'll grope you the second that you're not looking. "Sango shuddered in a way that told better than words that she'd been on the receiving end of just such an action on more than one occasion.

"So what he did to you last night . . ."

"Is a mild form of what he does to every woman that he comes across. He's an unrepentant lech, through and through."

Kagome was making a mental note to keep a good distance between Miroku and herself when a deep chiming noise echoed through the room. It repeated itself three times before falling silent. "Breakfast time," Sango explained happily. "That bell rings ten minutes before the official start of every meal. I think it's kind of nice, actually."

Kagome nodded in agreement. "It's definitely an improvement over Souta and Kohaku running through the house screaming 'Get it while it's hot!' at the top of their lungs." Both girls headed to the door. Just as she was crossing the threshold, Kagome remembered something. She motioned for Sango to wait and dashed back into her room. When she got to the dresser, she carefully picked up the facedown frame. A soft smile crossed her face as she returned it to its original position before hurrying to rejoin Sango in the hall.