Manga chapter 157 (after Goshinki's appearance, while Inuyasha is with Tôtôsai, repairing the Tetsusaiga)

Summary: Kagome voices some feelings she tried to keep buried.

Words count: 920

Please note that this is based on the manga's events rather than the anime's, although they're pretty similar in the end.

Pain

"Sango?"

The demon slayer's eyes opened immediately and she jerked up, prepared to handle whatever was happening.

Albeit, she had been expecting a demon attack more than Kagome's tearful's eyes. The schoolgirl jumped a little at her reaction.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," she apologized. "I didn't know if you were awake, and…"

"It's okay," Sango answered calmly. "I'm a light sleeper. Is there something wrong, Kagome?"

Her voice was filled with concern, and when the other girl's shoulders drooped and she started looking down to the ground, she couldn't help but worry.

"Come on, sit down," she offered, patting she spot next to her. Kagome nodded and complied. Sango smiled and gently wrapped her arm around her friend, like she had done so often for Kohaku. She may not have known Kagome for as long, but she already cared about her deeply — perhaps not as a sister, not yet, but at the very least as a dear friend.

"What's going on, Kagome?" she asked, her voice soothing.

There was a silence, as Kagome debated within herself, and she finally took a shaky breath before answering, her voice low.

"It's Kikyô."

Sango held back a smile. It almost made her happy that, with everything they were going through, Kagome managed to have something as… simple as jealousy. She was in quite a similar situation with Miroku, but as much as she complained about it, she actually enjoyed being able to live something as normal as that.

"You're worried about Inuyasha, aren't you? Really, Kagome, you…"

"That's not it."

Sango tilted her head with confusion, and Kagome wrapped her arms around her knees, seemingly trying to look even smaller than she already was. Probably because right now, she felt ridiculously small and pathetic.

"She tried to kill me."

It wasn't more than a whisper and Sang actually had to lean towards her to understand what she was saying. She froze when she managed to make sense out of the words Kagome had uttered.

"I-I mean, she, erm, she'd have let us all to die, I think, but she… She saved me, and then she took the Jewel from me, and then…"

"She tried to kill you," Sango repeated. "Kagome, are you sure? I don't know much about Kikyô, but she seemed like a good person as long as it wasn't related to Inuyasha…"

Kagome's arms tightened around her knees and she buried her face against it.

"Her soul collectors were holding me above the pit Naraku had created, and then they dropped me. And she said… That I was her and that it was better if there was only one in the world."

She could almost hear Kikyô's words replaying in her mind.

"She told Inuyasha that she had taken the Jewel from me because it made me a target and I… I didn't tell Inuyasha."

There was a silence before she admitted, her voice even lower "I didn't think he would believe me."

Things slowly started to make sense in Sango's mind. And of course, now that it was made clear that Kikyô had given the Jewel to Naraku and that Inuyasha had almost died because of it, the memories were much more vivid. But that wasn't it, was it?

"And now, Inuyasha's defending her," Sango added slowly. "Even though he nearly died."

She didn't add 'because she handed the Jewel to Naraku'. It wasn't needed at that point. A sob escaped from Kagome, surprising Sango. Kagome didn't deal with things through sadness, she dealt with them through anger. She had only seen her cry for Inuyasha, and usually it was from relief that he was alright.

"Inuyasha is in love with the woman who tried to kill me."

Sango wrapped her other arm around Kagome, bringing her into a tight hug. She didn't move as Kagome's shoulders started to shake, nor as her tears started to wet the fabric of her clothes. She simply held her against her.

She couldn't name the feelings that rushed through her. Part of it was anger, but she couldn't really blame Inuyasha, no matter how much she would have loved to, especially if he didn't know, although she could understand Kagome's decision — she herself couldn't tell what Inuyasha would have done, given how much he had defended Kikyô recently. Part of it was just pain, just empathy for what Kagome was going through, and she knew that this was why she wanted to be mad at Inuyasha, so that she would have a way to make her friend feel better.

"It's going to be okay," she whispered to her friend's ear, as she waited for her to calm down.

"What's going on?" Shippo's small voice asked. "Why's Kagome crying?"

Kagome gave Sango a horrified glance, before turning towards him, quickly wiping her tears and flashing him a smile.

"I'm just missing my mom, Shippo, don't worry."

Next thing she knew, the kid had thrown himself in her arms, probably trying to comfort her, which elicited a chuckle from the girl as she lovingly hugged him against her.

Soon, Miroku was awake too, and, in the middle of the night, their little campfire suddenly felt very alive, taking away the thoughts that had been plaguing Kagome's mind. She still didn't exactly feel good about it all, but letting it bring her down wasn't the solution.

She took a deep breath, listening to Sango and Miroku's bickering.

Sango was right.

Maybe she was hurting now, but it was going to be okay.