Rin paled, drawing back as though she’d been slapped. Just as white and tense as she’d gone, Kagome went red and slack-jawed with fury. Her eyes cut like daggers to Kanako. There was no point in even attempting to refute what she’d said. Kagome’s own outraged reaction had been too swift and apparent to deny it.

“Out,” she growled, almost hoping Kanako would disobey so that she’d have an excuse to throw her out.

But Kanako scrambled up and fled without delay. Mind racing to remedy this fiasco, Kagome turned back to Rin, who’d withdrawn to the rear of the house. She sat huddled on her bed with her back to Kagome, sniffling softly.

“Rin-chan…” Kagome said quietly, stepping toward her.

“She’s so hateful!” Rin exclaimed, her brown eyes simmering with tears as they snapped to Kagome’s. “But she wasn’t lying, was she?” When Kagome just set her jaw and regarded Rin in heavy silence, the young miko’s expression crumpled. “You…you told me—you swore to me—that there was nothing between you and Kohaku-kun…why did you lie to me? Why?”

“I didn’t lie to you, Rin-chan. I’m not interested in him, and he knows that.” Scowling, Kagome crossed her arms together in frustration. “He’s just stubborn and delusional. I wish he hadn’t proposed to me, but he did anyway. Of course I turned him down right there on the spot.”

But if anything, Rin only looked that much more crushed. “Why…everyone, Kaede-baa-chan, Kohaku-kun, even Sesshoumaru-sama…no matter what you do, they always love you more.”

Kagome shook her head and sighed. “Oh, Rin-chan, that just isn’t true. Everyone adores you. And as for Kohaku-kun—he doesn’t really ‘love me’ any more than Sesshoumaru does. One day when you’re a little older you’ll understand what I mean.”

Rin’s brow furrowed. “But Sesshoumaru-sama, he—”

“Listen to me,” Kagome said firmly, “whatever you’ve seen or heard from him, you have to know that it’s not what it appears to be. The same thing goes for Kohaku-kun. There’s a force in men that drives them more strongly than any other passion. It might seem like love to you, but it’s not.”

“Then,” Rin asked, drying her eyes as she blinked, “what is it?”

Kagome frowned, hesitating. Rin was so young, so innocent. Kagome wanted to protect her, to shield her from the ugliness that surrounded them, but she didn’t want to keep lying to her, either. What good would that serve?

“It’s lust,” Kagome said simply, and when Rin just continued to gaze at her uncertainly, the miko bowed her head. “Rin-chan, I…I should tell you that I did something terrible, months ago. I was feeling desperate—I don’t have a good excuse for it—but I went to Kohaku-kun’s house late at night, and well—well, I seduced him.”

Rin’s mouth was a thin line. “How?”

“I kissed him, got into his bed.” Kagome drew in a terse breath. “We were intimate, physically—do you understand what I mean?”

Rin nodded stiffly, after a moment.

“I’m ashamed of it,” Kagome said past the lump in her throat. “It was wrong of me, to do that with him when I felt nothing for him. Understandably, it gave him the wrong idea. That’s why he’s been pursuing me; that’s why he went so far as to propose to me, just so he could get me to be with him like that again. It’s insane, but that’s what can happen when lust takes hold of a man. And so that’s why you have to be careful—”

“Please,” Rin said, cool and short, “I can’t listen to you anymore. I want you to go away now. I want you to leave me alone.”

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi