A/N: Yay, writing this cured my writer's block! The downside is now I'm going to be going back and forth between writing this and my other stories, and I am not known for my awesome juggling skills. -sweatdrop- So, let's see if I improve! I forgot how fun and easy it is to write fanfiction, so that might help. xD

Yeah, so, I like to think I was being clever when I wrote this, but then after I proofread it, it all seems blaringly obvious. As well as slightly redundant feeling. Eh, I dunno. You guys tell me what YOU think, mmkay? Also, if I randomly changed between tenses, please let me know. I tend to have a problem with that.

No one ever makes the first jump,

Zana

PS- I need to stop doing that. xD

(2) Reality Check

:happiness comes with an expiration date.

I.

It was around here somewhere...

Inuyasha rummaged through the pile of dirty clothes that practically buried the small metal dresser. He very well knew the purpose and mechanics of a dresser, but that didn't make much a difference considering the fact that he was a teenaged boy. Same went for the washer. Now that Kagome wasn't there to remind him that, "Hey, you know, you could toss your clothes into the laundry chute when you're done wearing them," he hardly ever bothered to. What did it matter if his clothes weren't always clean? He showered every other day, didn't he?

"Ow!" Something sharp underneath the clothes had pricked his hand. Muttering curses under his breath, he pulled it out to see what it was.

Ah, finally, he found it! Well, a part of it anyway. That was strange; he didn't remember breaking the mirror. It must have been something he absently threw onto the dresser that smashed it. The shard was still big enough to use though, thankfully. He could have just gone into the bathroom and used the wall mirror there, but this idea occurred to him a little too late, and at the cost of a cut, no less.

Unbothered by this, though, he absently wiped his hand off on his jacket–it was red anyway, so the blood wouldn't ruin it or anything–and held up the mirror shard to his face. When the head with orange eyes and long white hair looked back at him, he held it out a little further back so he could see his neck in there too.

Inuyasha stared thoughtfully at his reflection, mainly at the necklace he had recently received from Kagome. Strung upon black cord were three metallic-white fangs (fake, of course), separated from each other by tiny black beads in between in each one, so that one fang hung down in the middle while the other two hung up closer to his shoulders. He picked at one of the beads, then tossed the mirror shard back on dresser with a shrug.

'I guess it's not that bad,' he thought. 'Not bad enough to offend Kagome by not wearing it, anyway.'

It was from Kagome, but Miroku had been the one to deliver it and he had been suppressing a smirk when he did. He probably thought necklaces were girly. And they were girly, usually, but Inuyasha didn't think this one really was. Maybe it didn't matter, though. Maybe it was some kind of culture taboo, guys wearing necklaces. But hadn't he seen some men wearing chains around their necks before? Maybe it was certain type of necklace? And why did Kagome want to give him a necklace anyway? Was it some sort of holiday or tradition? Did he have to give her something back..?

Inuyasha let out an irritated growl and decided that he didn't care. All this culture stuff was making his head hurt. He had been in confinement for seven years, plus now he was in a different country! Everything was strange or uncertain to him; more trouble than it was worth. To hell with it all. He would do what he wanted.

It was just like that time Miroku had made fun of his hair. Long hair was another girly thing, apparently. He had even considered cutting it, now that he was free and far from that hated Facility he had been imprisoned for years on end. That was the only reason his hair was so long in the first place; it hadn't been cut once over the last seven years.

Kagome had overheard the hair-cutting debate and commented that she liked Inuyasha with long hair. He ultimately decided not to cut it after all. He also stopped caring about what people might think of him.

Well, most people. He was still planning on getting a gift later on for Kagome in return for the necklace, just in case...

Now bored, he flopped over onto his comfy bed, laying on his back with his hands behind his head. It was still a weird feeling, having a nice bed like he did now. It had been a month since his escape, but everything still felt so surreal, like a dream. If it was a dream, he hoped he would never wake up.

His eyes found the ceiling and he absently stared at the tiny glow-in-the-dark stars that Kagome had forgotten to take down when she left. She once mentioned something about having stars on the ceiling of her bedroom back in Lenear, so she stuck the plastic ones on the ceiling here to make it more comforting, or something like that. Inuyasha had never bothered to take them down.

Kagome had only stayed in this room for about week. Then she decided to move into the Linder House: a multiplex building for the city's homeless, orphans, and now, because of the war, a refugee shelter. She was optimistic that her family would be arriving soon and they would buy a house there, so why get comfortable anyway? Besides, she had said, she didn't want to trespass on Mushin's hospitality any more than she needed to and oh, Inuyasha could have his own room!

He was always grumbling about sharing a room with Miroku, but if he had known that this would be one of Kagome's reasons for leaving, he would never uttered a single compliant. Still, it wasn't too bad. He did enjoy having a room to himself and the Linder House wasn't too far away. Kagome wasn't alone, either: Sango and her brother lived there too. (They were orphans, Inuyasha learned. Their father was a soldier and had been killed in action during the very first year of the war.)

Inuyasha closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Surprisingly, Kagome's scent still lingered in the room, despite the growing stench of his dirty laundry...

"You don't even care, do you?"

Inuyasha opened one eye to see Miroku glaring at him from the open doorway. Inuyasha's door was always open; he never shut it. The idea of it just didn't sit well with him for some reason. He often spent most his time outside the apartment as well. Mushin said he was probably suffering from claustrophobia, but Inuyasha hadn't gotten around to looking the word up yet.

"No," he easily replied, shutting his eyes again. "By the way, what is it that I don't care about again?"

His friend ran a hand through his short black hair with a frustrated sigh: why did Inuyasha always have to be so careless like this? Didn't he realize the importance of the situation?!

"We're spending the night at Sango's tonight," he said through gritted teeth. "You need to get your stuff together."

With a bored expression on his face, Inuyasha sat up on his bed and scratched behind one of his ears, silently wondering if dog demons like himself could get ticks.

"I still don't get the point of this," he commented as he scratched. "I mean, it's not like we don't get to see them everyday anyway, so what difference does it make if we sleep here or there?"

"The difference, my foolish friend, is that if we sleep over there, then there's a higher possibility of catching a glimpse of the girls in their pajamas."

"I thought we'd have to sleep in her brother's room, though," Inuyasha pointed out. "Besides, Kagome just sleeps in a T-shirt and pants anyway..."

Suddenly, everything seemed to go very quiet and Inuyasha froze, only his eyes moving to burn a deadly glare into Miroku's slowly grinning face.

"Don't you even start," he growled. "I'm not the perverted one here. I just saw her when she was sleepwalking one night, that's all."

"Riiiiight," Miroku said with a wink, earning him a flying pillow to head. He picked it up and flung it back at Inuyasha, who simply caught it. "Save it for later, man. Ooh, I can see it now: two pillow-fighting girls in lacy pajamas and–hey!"

He picked up the offending pillow once more, but this time he turned and threw it out the door. "There, I packed your pillow for you. Now get your blanket and some clean clothes and let's go already."

"Feh. Are you sure you wanna go?"

The playful mood evaporated and Miroku twiddled his fingers in a nervous matter. He and Sango had recently broken up. Which they did a lot, apparently, but Inuyasha wasn't surprised, given how Miroku had the tendency to flirt with any cute girl who happened to come his way. Miroku had confided in him the night before, however, that when they were broken up, Sango usually acted very angry with him. But this time, after saying the ever so cliche "let's just be friends" line, she actually meant it, because she didn't seem to be mad at all. She was just treating him like she would any friend.

This upset Miroku because he took it as a sign that she might actually be done with him and they would not get back together this time. Inuyasha, still somewhat socially inept, didn't really understand this: wasn't it good thing that she wasn't mad? Miroku explained that it wasn't, as it was not her usual beahvoir, but he might as well been talking to a wall, because Inuyasha then suggested that if he was so worked up about it, then he should just do something to piss her off and they'd be back together in no time.

Miroku took a deep breath and sucked up his courage.

"Of course I'm sure," he exhaled quickly. "I must jump at every chance I get to win over fair lady's heart. Um, again. That's why you need to go too; I need the support!"

"Really?" asked Inuyasha, raising an eye brow skeptically.

"No, not really," Miroku admitted. "But if I'm going down, I'm taking you with me. Oh, and by the way...when are we going to–"

Inuyasha cut him off before he could finish the question.

"Get out. I can't pack if you keep bugging me."

Miroku did not seem surprised by his reaction and promptly turned on his heel and left as he was told. Inuyasha got up to close the door behind him–well, actually he left it a crack open–and grumbled as he threw a spare shirt from the dresser and his blanket on the floor. (Inuyasha's idea of packing.)

He knew what Miroku was going to ask. He asked it every time at the end of a conversation with him, probably trying to trip him up: When are we going to Haden?

It was the "we" part Inuyasha didn't like to hear. When they initially decided that they were all going to Haden to storm the Facility, Inuyasha had no choice but to give in at the time. But then they started talking about it less and less, making him hope that perhaps the idea of it was fading away and they would lose interest.

Oh, he was still going to go. Plots of Naraku's downfall were never too far from his mind. But taking the others with him? Not a chance. They would only slow him down and get in the way. It was stupid and pointless to make a group outing of it.

Sango wouldn't be hard to persuade: she had a more realistic standpoint on going through extreme hardship to fight a battle that wasn't hers. She was really concerned for her friends though, but if push came to shove, Inuyasha figured he could always guilt trip her with her little brother: she wouldn't dare leave Kohaku behind to go put herself in danger.

Kagome would be a little more difficult. She felt responsible for the still imprisoned captives they had left behind and no one else seemed to be doing anything about it. There was also the fact that her family hadn't come yet, which made her worry. If they did arrive soon, though, Inuyasha hoped that would be enough to make her want to stay here. Then again, with the current on-going situation, it could be unlikely that they would...

Miroku was the one Inuyasha was really having the most trouble with, however. Inuyasha didn't have a clue why the boy was so eager and determined about it, and he refused to let the matter go but he never explained why.

Inuyasha liked having friends, but he never knew that they could be such a pain too. A half-formed idea of sneaking off to Haden by himself lurked in the back of his mind, but for now he returned his attention to the sleep over and gathered his things so they could go.

II.

"Today marks the third week of Lenear's mysterious and seemingly impenetrable lock-down. There still has been no word from Haden regarding the unknown state of their capital, but evidence suggests that the officials within the city are unable to make any outside contact, not even with their own country..."

Kagome's eyes were glued to wall screen. She was sitting at the foot of Sango's bed, her arms wrapped around her pulled up knees and her attention focused solely on the newscast. Miroku was sitting back in the corner, playing some sort of card game with Sango's little brother: little holographic men appeared above the cards when they were laid down and attacked each other. Sango herself was lounging on her bed, pretending to read a magazine while secretly taking peeks above the pages to watch Miroku, and her cat was curled up against her. Inuyasha was laying on his side in the middle of the floor, examining his claws and looking immensely bored.

"Although Reemian troops have reached a major turning point in the war, the isolation of Lenear has even the top generals worried. Executive Major General Renald Morcorsky stated earlier this week that the military is taking no chances and must consider that the sudden isolation may be a part of some surprise attack organized by Haden loyalists..."

Inuyasha's eyes flickered over to Kagome, who had grown tense as the news reporter babbled on. Why was she watching it if it made her upset? His eyes moved back to the newscast in question and narrowed. Grumbling under his breath, he pulled himself off the ground and stood in front of the wall screen. With two quick taps of his fingers, the images on the screen blinked out, revealing the fourth pink wall of Sango's room. Kagome looked at him questioningly and the others followed suit when they noticed that Inuyasha had turned it off.

"I'm bored," he whined. "I don't want to watch the stupid news, I want to do something fun! Isn't that why we're here?"

"Inuyasha does have a point," said Miroku, as Kohaku laid down a card and beat him for the tenth time in a row. "And since it's getting late, I suggest that you ladies go change into your pajamas now–"

Sango reached behind her for her pillow and casually hurled it at Miroku's head.

"Ow! Stop that already! Are you guys trying to give me a concussion?!"

"We could give each other make overs," Sango suggested, completely ignoring the overly dramatic Miroku (much to his dismay). "How about it, Inuyasha? There's so much we can do with that hair of yours."

"Not if I kill you first," he said defensively, not liking where this was going. It was one thing to keep it long. But letting them braid it or something...no way.

"We could watch a movie," piped Kagome, looking much more cheerful now. "I got a copy of that new one they just released, Feudal Fairytale. I haven't watched it yet but I heard it's really good."

"Oh yeah, I think I remember seeing trailers for that," said Sango. "What's it about?"

"It's an adventure/romance movie starring Moneca Stori and Richard Cox. Stori plays this girl who gets teleported to some medieval fantasy world on accident and has to team up with this monster-boy, played by Cox, and they go on a quest to defeat evil or something like that."

"Sounds stupid to me," Inuyasha commented. Kagome rolled her eyes.

"You think everything is stupid."

"If it's got Moneca Stori in it, I'll watch it," Miroku put in. "She's such a babe." He tossed Sango a sideways glance to judge her reaction and was horrified to find that she didn't seem the least bit upset. Kohaku looked on with confusion as the boy then proceeded to bury his face in his sister's pillow, looking somewhat helpless.

"Well, I'll go down to my room and get it then, if you're all agreed." Inuyasha protested that he did not agree but Kagome was able to convince him after mentioning that it was chalk full of fight scenes and was not rated G.

"Kohaku, why don't you go with her and stop by the pantry to see there's any popcorn."

"You're just trying to get rid of me again, Sis," he groaned, but he did as Sango said and went out the door after Kagome. He wanted to see the movie too, so he didn't want to risk getting permanently kicked out of Sango's room for the rest of the night, as she had been frequently threatening to do.

After the two had left, Inuyasha turned the wall screen back on and flipped through the channels without interest while waiting for Kagome to return with her movie. Sango went back to her magazine while Miroku stared longingly at the back her head, still holding her pillow.

III.

"I can't believe that homeless guy ran off with all the popcorn," Kohaku said disappointedly as he and Kagome made their way down a semi-lit hallway on the third floor. They reached the end of the hall and turned to climb up the stairs.

"It's okay," said Kagome. She was fond of Kohaku: he reminded her of her own little brother. "We don't need popcorn to enjoy the movie anyway." She waved the little disk in the air, but Kohaku made no reply.

They continued walking until they reached an intersection in the hallway. Down the hall on the left was Sango and Kohaku's compartment, but Kagome stopped and stared down the hall on the right, where something had caught her eye. Kohaku paused too and turned to see what she was looking at.

"It-It's a ghost!" he sputtered.

"Don't be so silly Kohaku," Kagome chided and she started off down the right hall, curiosity getting the better of her. Frightened but at a loss, Kohaku reluctantly followed behind her. As they got closer and the figure came into view, Kagome turned to him and smiled. "See? It's just a little girl."

"Hi there!" Kagome greeted brightly when they had finally reached her. "I haven't seen you around here before. Are you new?"

"I'm looking for someone," the little girl replied in answer. Kagome blinked at her. It was easy to see why Kohaku mistook her for a ghost: she certainly looked like one. She was dressed head to toe in white and Kagome had never seen someone so pale. Her face appeared devoid of any emotion and she was holding something under her arm.

"Who are you looking for?" Kagome asked gently, disregarding the child's odd appearance. She was still a little girl.

"You," she stated plainly. "Kagome Higurashi."

"Um..." Kagome wasn't sure what to say; she was quite startled.

"Come with me," said the girl in the same monotone voice as before. She reached out with her free arm and took Kagome by the hand, leading her further down the hall. Kagome, a little dumbfounded, let her, and Kohaku nervously ran to catch up with them. They went up another set of stairs to the fifth and final floor, where the girl lead them all the way down to the end of the hall. Doors lined the walls on their left and right, while the end wall was devoted to a large window that overlooked the dark, empty streets below.

"Look," ordered the girl, letting go of Kagome's hand so she could hold up the thing she had been carrying under her arm. Both Kagome and Kohaku leaned forward to look at the object. Kagome thought it looked very much like a mirror, yet she could not see her reflection in it. She looked from the strange object to its owner, wondering if the girl was going to explain now, but the girl simply stared back at her. Confused, Kagome looked to Kohaku. She gasped. The boy had gone suddenly stiff and his eyes were unfocused and distant, as if he wasn't there.

"Kohaku?" she said, waving a hand in front of his face. He did not response. A panicked feeling rose within her chest and she whirled back to the little girl.

"What's going on?" Something wasn't right. The little girl was still staring at her.

"Oh well," she finally said, and as the words left her mouth, something crashed through building, sending chunks of the ceiling and the walls flying. Kagome screamed and the shaking sent her stumbling backwards. Kohaku, on the other hand, didn't even flinch, nor did the little girl.

It was some sort of a creature...a dragon-like monster...it had punctured itself into the building! It must have been huge, for only its front half fit into the hall, the back half still hanging somehow on the outside. It was coated in silver, gleaming scales and it had large, red eyes, eyes that found Kagome's and seemed to be boring into her skull. She wanted to scream and run, but she couldn't pull away from it's frightening gaze. It was like it was a giant snake and she was the small, helpless little mouse, paralyzed with fear.

"There are two," the monster spoke. It's voice was a deep rumbling sound, and it was so loud that it caused the building to shake with each word. "We came for one. Can I eat the extra?"

"I do not know," said the little girl. She replaced the mirror back under her arm again and approached the dragon-demon, which obediently lowered its head. With a single leap, the girl was able to jump onto its head, where she stood calmly and secure. Slowly, she raised her free arm and made a beckoning gesture with her fingers. Kagome watched with horror as Kohaku suddenly came back to life and walked forward towards the monster and the girl.

"Kohaku, don't!" she yelled, now able to find her voice, but the boy didn't seem to hear her. He climbed up the monster's head and took a spot behind the girl, his expression just as blank as hers.

"We can with take him with us and I shall ask," the girl mumbled. The monster snorted in a pleased sounding way. It turned its eyes back on Kagome, who was shaking uncontrollably in fear, her heart racing and her breathing uneven. She couldn't think; the only thing she could focus on was the terrible creature that was lurking forward in her direction.

It's talons dug into the floor as it pulled itself further inside, breaking away more of the roof and walls as it did. Kagome vaguely noticed the wings on its back. It was reaching for her now, reaching out with one of it's clawed foot while the little girl remained perfectly balanced on the top of its head. Plaster from the ceiling rained down upon them and cracks ran through the floor; soon, it would possibly give out under the monster's weight.

Kagome could faintly hear screams and sirens, and a jumble of other noise in the background. When the huge claws were just inches away, her mind finally snapped out its paralyzation and she jumped backwards, then turned and started to run in a blind panic. She had to get away, get out of the building so it couldn't get her. If she could just make it back to the stairs, she might have a chance...

The monster roared and slammed its fist into the floor, sending another tremor throughout the building. The roof appeared to be falling completely apart now: it caved in, crumbled, and fell.

A large piece of it hit Kagome, making everything go black.

IV.

"Did you guys feel that?"

"Feel what?" asked Sango, lowering her magazine to look at Inuyasha. He suddenly looked very serious and tense, the ears on top his head twitching back and forth and his face deep in concentration. He opened his mouth to answer her, but a loud crashing noise beat him to it and the whole building shook.

"An earthquake?" Miroku wondered aloud. He looked shocked, and so did Sango.

"I don't think we've ever had an earthquake here," she said. "We're not even close to a tectonic plate or anything."

"It's not a earthquake," Inuyasha growled, looking up at the ceiling. "It's coming from the floor above us."

"What?!" Sango cried, while at the same time Miroku went, "Are you serious?"

Inuyasha did not waste time elaborating, however: he ran right out the door. His friends instantly took off to follow him down the hall and up the stairs to the fifth floor, where the source of the shaking was coming from. Both jerked to halt when they saw what it was.

The end of the hall was completely and utterly destroyed, a fresh ruin. There was a large, winged creature flying out of it and upwards into the night sky. Not only that, but there were people riding on it too. Sitting behind its head was a figure in white, and behind her...

"Kohaku!" Sango yelled, not believing her eyes. She grabbed onto Miroku and gasped, "It has my brother! Miroku, that thing has my baby brother!"

Miroku stood frozen in shock and stared. Quietly, his voice barely a whisper, he said, "And Kagome..."

"What?!" Sango whirled her head back towards the monster and sure enough, clenched tightly in one of it's feet was an unconscious Kagome, hanging limp in its claws.

It flapped its mighty wings and soared away from the building. At the same time, a determined Inuyasha rushed down the remainder of the hallway and jumped. The Linder House and his frightened friends vanished below him and he was in the air, flying after the monster, his arms stretched outwards, reaching desperately for Kagome. He was getting closer. He reached as hard as he could. His fingers brushed against the dragon-demon's scales...

Then air was rushing between them as Gravity did its worse. Suddenly and quickly, he and the creature were very far apart, the creature flying higher into the sky and Inuyasha steadily falling down from it. The ground was rushing up at him but he couldn't focus to steady himself, for the image of the creature flying away with Kagome was all he could see and think about. 'It got away, it got away...dammit! How could I have let it get away?!'

Something hit him–or rather, he hit something–forcing his attention back to the matter at hand. There was a loud crack, followed by more snapping sounds. A dark blur of greens and browns soared before him, and then some red was added to blur, flashing on and off. Then he could hear shouts and screams and sirens, all around him and growing louder/

Then he hit the ground, and all went quiet.

.t.b.c