This idea has been swirling in my mind for awhile now and I've only just started to write it out, so bear with me. The second part to Code Yellow should be out soon, but I wanted to put this one up while I was feeling like it. Read it and let me know what you think. It will be Inu/Kag eventually...

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or The Man with the Blue Guitar by Wallace Stevens

The man bent over his guitar,
A shearsman of sorts. The day was green.

They said, "You have a blue guitar,
You do not play things as they are."

The man replied, "Things as they are
Are changed upon the blue guitar."

And they said then, "But play, you must,
A tune beyond us, yet ourselves,

A tune upon the blue guitar
Of things exactly as they are."

How did things end up like this? Kagome couldn't remember. Fisting the fabric of her skirt in her hands, she walked down the silent hospital hallway, her shoes squeaking loudly in the sterile silence. Having the presence of mind to count the room numbers, when Kagome reached 207, she took a sharp breath before pushing open the door.

"Kikyou..." She peered through the dimmed lighting at her wilted sister. While Kikyou had always been pale, her complexion had lost its refined beauty and settled to the sickly pallor of illness. Her beautiful pin-straight hair had been tied into a simple braid for ease of care and she was practically drowning in her hospital gown. It was painful to see her like this.

Kikyou blinked out of the half-sleep she had been in. "Kagome..." her voice held traces of its old regality but was rough from sickness. She began shifting into a seated position and Kagome rushed to help her up.

"How are you feeling? Do you need anything?" Kagome urgently fussed over her. The nurses had told her the prognosis. Terminal. She might not last the night.

"Kagome..." Kikyou's eyes drifted shut and swallowing took visible effort "I need you to do something for me..."

Kikyou reached towards her with her left hand. Kagome took it quickly, not entirely sure what was going on. Her and Kikyou had never been the best of siblings. What was Kagome, who at this point was practically a stranger, supposed to do for her ailing sister?

"What is it?" Kagome clutched Kikyou's cold hand, trying to lend her some warmth, some life. The calluses were all still there, Kikyou had clearly still been playing. Kagome cast a quick glance around to see which one of her beauties Kikyou had decided to bring. Ah, the one with the Brazillian Rosewood neck, perfect to lighten the air in this place.

"My...guitar..." The words were difficult to understand and looked even more difficult for Kikyou to say. Kagome moved to pick up the instrument, but Kikyou's grip held firm.

"No. In my apartment...a guitar...different..." She smiled weakly as if at a private joke. Kagome gave her a large, encouraging grin in return, even though all she wanted to do was curl up and cry.

"A different guitar?" Kagome stroked a stray hair away from Kikyou's face "Honey, I don't have time to go there and get it and bring it back to you..." Kikyou knew she was going to die, there was no point in Kagome side-stepping the point.

Kikyou's face held urgency and she clutched Kagome's suddenly "You must get the blue guitar fixed," She gasped "Please Kagome... please..."

Eager to calm her overexcited sister, for even though she wasn't a nurse she knew all those beeping sounds from the machines wasn't a good sign, Kagome could do nothing but eagerly agree. "Okay, okay Kikyou I'll get the blue guitar fixed."

Kikyou met her gaze forcefully "Please...get it fixed...I will always regret..." her smile turned wistful, giving her face an uncharacteristic sweetness "I would have liked to see him...one last time..."

Kagome's mind raced, trying to think of a beau that should be with her at the hospital. It was a testament to Kikyou's social skills that the only one with her on her deathbed was her estranged sister that had to fly in from across the ocean. Their parents and kid brother had died in a car accident while Kagome was away at university and Kikyou was on tour. Both girls had mourned in their own way, Kagome picking up her bags and taking flight, and Kikyou throwing herself into her music career.

Why had they stopped talking? Kagome couldn't remember. Sitting in this hospital room, she couldn't think of anything that would have been bad enough. She wished they had more time.

Kikyou was thinking along the same lines "I'm...glad you came, Kagome."

Tears blurred Kagome's vision as she wobbled a smile at her older sister, not sure what to say "I..."

Kikyou lightly squeezed Kagome's hand as her eyes slid shut.

The monitor started screaming, nurses rushed in and pushed Kagome from the bed. She stood in shock, watching as they pumped her sister's chest. Watching them try to re-inflate her lungs.

Watching as the line on the heart monitor went flat and stayed there.