A/n: I've had this story in my mind for quite some time now. I got really inspired by a song called "Ally" by Danny Padilla who really helped me bring this story to life.

Disclaim: I do not own Inuyasha nor its characters, this is purely fan based.

Larger than life

Chapter 1: Burden

Kagome sat in silence, the world spinning around her. She could hear her breath reach her lungs, feel them expand a long moment before escaping through her lips. It was like her body was trapped in a vacuum. Muffled sounds pressed their way through the bubbles in her ears and she looked up. The doctor sat in front of her, a sad frown resting on his normal cheerful face.

His lips started moving again, but she couldn't make out what he was trying to convey. She watched as he leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees.

"Miss Higurashi…"

"Yes?"

"Do you want me contact your mom?"

She stared down at her hands who now were plain white after clenching her skirt to tightly. When had she started shaking?

Her mouth felt dry and the words lay heavy on her tongue "No, no I'm good, thank you"

The doctor sighed and rolled his chair back to his desk. He reached for a folder resting on the edge of it, which he clearly had prepared before the appointment. From it he pulled a sheet of paper before closing the folder once more and rolling back towards her.

"Here. We still need to run a couple of more tests but for now you should go home, you need some time to process this. Remember you can call at any time, we have night watch as well so don't hesitate to do so"

He handed her the sheet of paper and she took it with slight hesitation. She read the first couple of lines and made out her own name at the very top of it. A nightmare? The rest of the letters were dancing around the page refusing to make sense.

She felt a light tap on her shoulder and looked up suddenly noticing she was outside. The breeze brushed through her hair. It felt refreshing against her soaked neck where some of her hair had stuck to it. When had she left the office?

"Are you feeling alright, miss?"

An elderly woman stood by her a worried frown lingering on her face. Same as the doctors, she noted to herself. She felt like pinching her arm but knew it wouldn't help, nothing could wake her from this nightmare.

So, this was really happening.

"Yes, thank you, I'm fine" Kagome smiled and she wondered how many times she would have to lie and say she was fine from now on, before crossing the road as the final beeps of the traffic lights faded behind her.

Opening the door to her home the familiar scent of curry found its way to her nose. She quietly closed the door behind her and bent down to take of her shoes.

"Oh, you home already, dear?" Mrs Higurashi's voice sounded from the kitchen "What did the doctor say?"

Kagome felt a sudden tightness in her chest as her hand crumbled parts of the heavy piece of paper. Her mom appeared around the corner holding a cloth around a dripping dinner plate.

"Sweetie?"

Kagome quickly hid the paper behind her back "He said it was nothing to worry about, nosebleed was common around these seasons. He just wanted me to make sure I got enough rest"

Lies. Her chest tightened more as the stone in her throat grew larger.

"Well that's great news. I'm glad it was nothing you really had me worried" her mom smiled and kagome forced a smile.

"The dinner is ready in ten, could you get dad and Souta for me?"

The food was tasteless. She dug her fork deep into the rice letting it blend with the sauce watching the white absorb the new colour. Nosebleed. She had first noticed it when she had returned through the Well with Inuyasha a few months back. He had asked but she had shaken it off as nothing after all that wasn't the first time her nose had bled.

She closed her eyes and saw the letters still dance before her, mocking her.

But it had occurred more and more often after that incident. She had also felt persistent fatigue that had made it hard for her to even get out of bed in the morning, which she never had any trouble with before. After all there was no sleeping-in in feral era.

Around her she heard laughter and opened her eyes again to see her mom and brother laugh of something her grandpa must had said.

This could have been an ordinary day. Under other circumstances she would have laughed too.

But instead she felt the nausea creep up on her.

Why had she lied to her mom earlier?

She stared at her hardly touched plate. The crumbled paper in her pocked started burning against her thigh. She pushed her chair back excusing herself from the table and headed upstairs.

Shutting her door behind her she let her back slide down against it, collapsing on the floor. She pulled out the piece of paper and threw it against the wall before her and watched as it rolled to a halt in the corner.

She faced the ceiling, and suddenly noticed the star shaped spot close to the wall. How come she never noticed that mark before?

She heard footsteps in the hall downstairs and let her ear tiredly rest against the door.

"Is she alright?"

"Yes, the doctor said it was nothing to worry about, but that she needed rest"

"Don't you think she was rather silent this evening? very unlike her don't you think?"

"She probably has a lot to put her mind on, so we should just leave her be" Her mom's voice sounded so soft, but Kagome knew she had thought the same as him.

She let her knees come up to her chest as she buried her face in her arms. She had no idea how long she sat like that, but a knock broke her paralysation and looked up to find Inuyasha sitting outside her window, his face holding an apologetic mine.

Kagome got up and walked over unlocking the window letting the hanyou into her room. He jumped gracefully through landing soundless on her floor.

She still had her back facing him as the silence started to fill the gap between them.

"So…" he started, she could her the hesitation in his voice and turned towards him. He was now sitting on her bed, his arms crossed against his chest. "Sango and Miroku made it very clear that I couldn't come back until I had apologized to you…"

Apologize?

She stared at him and watched as a slight blush formed on his cheeks, but he didn't meet her gaze. When she didn't say anything, he let his hands fall to his lap, defeated "I was stupid, ok?" he murmured suddenly taking a great interest in her empty wall furthest from her.

"What do you mean?" her voice felt crisp against her throat after the long absence from talking. He looked at her thinking she was making fun of him. "You kidding me? Have you really forgotten about the fight already?" he sounded almost annoyed, like he had been battling himself for a long time before coming here.

They had fought? When?

The confusion in her eyes must have set Inuyasha off as he started scratching his neck looking rather confused himself.

How come she hadn't noticed what a beautiful shade of brown his eyes held?

She felt her chest tighten again and gripped her collar.

"You really can't remember?" his voice was low as he looked at her from the corners of her eyes.

She felt a stray tear escape down her face and Inuyasha immediately sat up desperation painted on his face.

"oh sorry" she apologized and quickly attempted to wipe it away, but another soon followed.

"How strange they don't seem to stop" she laughed but her hands were shaking.

They had fought 2 days ago she remembered now, over something stupid again. It felt like it had been in another life. A life where things were as normal as they could be. A life where that paper never had been printed.

She felt Inuyasha's hands grip around her wrists and she looked up at him.

Those lovely golden eyes meeting hers and more tears built up in the corners of her eyes.

"Inuyasha… I'm sick…" her words left her lips before she could stop them.

"Sick? What do you mean?"

"I thought it was nothing. I even laughed at mom who insisted on me getting it checked" Confusion lingered in his eyes, but a stern frown soon replaced it. His grip tightened slightly.

She let the air fill her lungs closing her eyes.

"I have cancer"

She knew far too well Inuyasha wouldn't know what that meant but telling him was finally accepting what the crumbled paper resting in the corner confirmed.

"Cancer?"

"Yeah they took some blood samples from me and they came back positive." Her words were close to whispers by now.

"What does that mean?"

She looked up at him taking in his frame, memorising his face, each strand of silver hair hanging loosely down his chest, his lovely eyes, his soft ears. His scent. His presence.

She smiled but deep inside she felt herself crumble like the paper.

Leukaemia. She had read about it in the past. She knew a classmate's friend's grandpa had died from it after fighting it half a year.

Looking at Inuyasha's now growing worry she shook it off. No, she refused to think like that. Nothing said for sure she wouldn't be able to fight through it. Truth is she was scared. She wanted to share it with someone, lighten the burden some. She wasn't scared of dying. She had been pretty close in the past fighting Naraku. What frightened her was leaving everyone behind. The suffering they had to go through because of her.

She led her hand up to his face making him loosen his grip slightly, clearly taken aback by her sudden action. She brushed his bangs softly with her fingers before letting her hand linger on his cheek. He stared at her in confusion like he had a thousand words to say to her but didn't know how to start.

"it means I need a lot of rest" she smiled again sincere this time, feeling the weight on her chest lifting some.

No, she wouldn't let this beat her.

For the sake of everyone she would be strong and fight this.