Work Text:
"Shut the fuck up!"
"Fine then, I will!"
Those were the last words they exchanged before Sango stormed off, sick and tired of Kagome's behavior. There used to be a time when they were friends, good friends, best friends even. But now...
It had gotten sour quickly after their first real argument, when it had become clear that Kagome wouldn't accept that Sango truly cared about her.
At first, it had been manageable. Sango struggling with her own self-esteem, she thought it was normal for Kagome to constantly put herself down and saw nothing wrong with trying to comfort her the best she could. Even when her friend showed multiple signs of getting worse, the demon slayer had stayed. Even when it was draining to be with her all day and left no energy for anyone else afterwards, she had chosen to keep in touch.
But now, they had reached the breaking point.
Someone so needy couldn't stay with someone who avoided long social interactions like the plague. Someone who didn't believe in her friend's affection couldn't stay with someone who never lied about her feelings.
For a few days, Sango had lurked around the well. Kagome was there, either yelling, insulting, crying or begging. In all honesty, seeing her go through every emotion possible was heartbreaking. Sango chose to give her one more chance. If they were as close as they'd claimed, they could work it out, right?
Wrong.
"Just say you hate me, I don't blame you for it."
"That's the thing, I don't hate you. I could never hate you."
"Liar!"
Of course. What did Sango expect? Multiple times, Kagome had called their friendship a mistake. Guess she'd been right all along. Or maybe she'd jinxed it, constantly repeating that it would never work.
Eh, Sango wasn't about to overthink about what had led to this. Not anymore at least.
Their last direct conversation ended in cold goodbyes, 'enjoy your time alone' and 'I should never have trusted you' being Kagome's last words while Sango muttered one last 'sorry for everything...' before they each went their own way.
Days passed. Occasionally Kagome would call out to Sango again, begging for another chance. Sango pretended like she didn't hear her. She knew it was selfish, that she could at least tell her it was over directly instead of ignoring the calls.
But she couldn't bring herself to answer. The girl's heart was cold now, at least for her used-to-be best friend. She didn't want to open the door for another scar, not when there was already one that was hardly healing. It was unfortunate that her own peace of mind required leaving Kagome's heart bleeding, but she was hurt even from figments of her own imagination, so what did it change in the end?
Sango looked down at the contents of her stomach, now emptied out on the forest floor. She was free now, wasn't she? Why did she still care about having treated Kagome like shit before the separation? Why did she bother worrying about someone who would likely not live to the age of eighteen anyways?
Yet there she was, feeling her guilt in her body. Or rather, feeling it attempt to escape by the same hole her venom had. Normally it was Kagome who threw up when feelings got too intense, and perhaps she had too, in a different place or even time.
Urgh, it was bitter and acidic on the tongue, with a few bits of half digested whatever. Some of the mixture was even trying to escape through her nostrils, burning like hell. Sango coughed. Disgusting, just like her. She should have kept her distance before developing affection for the younger girl.
One look up from the pile of vomit, and she saw Kohaku watching her, a tear in the corner of his eye. Her little brother... family really did stay when friends left, even though she had been the one to leave first and therefore didn't deserve the comfort of a sibling's shoulder to cry on.
He extended his hand out to her. She took it, shakily trying to get up. Maybe one day she could forgive herself. Maybe one day Kagome could realize it wasn't her own fault. Perhaps in the future they would meet again and either stitch their stories together again, or say goodbye properly.
But for now, a girl had to live without her best friend, and teach herself to assume her choice.