Disclaimer: I don't won Inuyasha, or Vogue.

Author's Note: It's not really a cliffhanger. Honestly, it's not. It would be a cliffhanger if I didn't tell you who it was, but I did, so it's not. So there.

Little gushy thing at the beginning. Just because. Well, because that's how I feel at the moment.

The rest of the chapter is pretty depressing.

Anyway! Chapter 10! Woohoo! We've already outdistanced my other version of this story, and made some serious improvements to boot. I hope you all enjoy this chapter; I had fun writing it—on my brand new laptop! YAY!

Ok, chapter time.

WARNING: DON'T PANIC AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER.

(-)(-)(-)

Chapter 10, Latino Rock Ballad

I loved him.

One time, we were sitting across from each other in the train. He was looking out the window, watching the grayish sky. I smiled at him, and he raised his eyebrow.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing," I said with a shrug.

I smiled still, and when we got off the train, I hugged myself.

I really, really loved him.

(-)(-)(-)

The hours ticked by on the kitchen clock. The first week, I sat in the living room, pressing my face into the cushions, and begging myself not to cry. But I did anyway, until my lungs hurt and I was convinced my eyes would be red and puffy forever. The second week, I screamed and threw a punch at my mirror, sending little bits of glass all over the floor. I decided I wasn't going to clean it up. I stepped on a piece. I got the vacuum out. The third week, I sat for long hours in front of the door, staring at it emptily. Each and every sound made me jump. The fourth week, I went grocery shopping, I went to work, I cleaned the house, I did the dishes…

I moved on.

I didn't tell Sango and Miroku want Inuyasha had said. If he told them, they didn't say anything. Trough all four stages of my eventual acceptance, they acted just as though everything was going exactly as they had expected. They didn't offer anything, but they were always ready with it the minute I asked. They were my little floaties, one about each arm, that kept me afloat in the tsunami that wracked my body.

(-)(-)(-)

I knocked on the door.

"Come in."

I entered. I put my bag down on a chair.

"Hi, Kagome-chan," Sango said, looking up from her paperwork and smiling. "What's up?"

I sank into the chair in front of her desk. Pushing my bangs out of my eyes, I tried to smile. "I was wondering, Sango-chan, do you think it would be all right for me to go home?"

Sango raised an eyebrow, as though to ask if I were actually serious. Then, she bit her lip. "Kagome-chan, you know how dangerous it is for you to be moving about right now. Even if you just go back for a few minutes, what if you run into a classmate? A teacher? A storekeeper? Anyone who can positively identify you is a threat to your survival."

"I'll wear a wig," I proposed, my voice cracking. "You can come with me!"

Sango sighed and put her papers down. She pushed back from her desk, stood, and crossed to the window. "Kagome-chan, it isn't so easy to return to the life you've left. Once you become part of the Resistance, you just…" she stopped and turned her back to me. Her hand sought the window, making foggy little fingerprints as it connected with the cool glass. "You just disappear."

"Sango-chan…" I breathed.

Sango turned and braved a smile. "Oh, Kagome, don't worry about me, please."

The phone rang. "Excuse me," Sango muttered, picking up the receiver. "Hello?"

I looked at the clock. Another hour. My body compressed, sinking further into the leather cushion of the chair.

The phone gave an electric sigh as it was reunited with its cradle. "Sorry about that," Sango said.

I nodded, suddenly too weak to respond. Sango noticed my posture and came over to take my hand. "Look, Kagome-chan, it's not that I don't want to help you. I would give anything to see you happy. It's just that…"

"I get it," I snapped, even though I didn't. I stood roughly and grabbed my bag. Suddenly, there was a fire in my stomach. I felt like I was either going to throw up or break another mirror.

"Kagome-chan!" Sango called, her voice following me down the hall.

I turned around. "Just leave me the hell alone, Inuyasha!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. Then I ran away.

I ran until I sank into the snow, wishing that I hadn't left my coat in Sango's office. The moonlight caused the snow to glow violet and strange. I palmed some of the fresh flakes and blew on them. They wheeled off into the dark, cloud-filled sky.

As I watched the flakes fall into the sky, my eyes fell on a proud red figure high above, holding up the heavens. My heart leapt as I recognized the characters engraved into the torii: Higurashi Shrine. Somehow, I had managed to run all the way home.

I began to climb the stairs. Voice chased me from the darkness.

"Ne-chan, look what I won today in school!"

"Welcome home, Kagome. Would you like a snack?"

"Late again, Kagome! Did you have to stay after and clean the boards?"

"Kagome, look at this scroll I found in one of the storerooms. This scrolls dates back to…"

"Ne-chan, are you listening to me?"

"Kagome?"

"Kagome!"

"Ne-chan!"

I stopped at Goshiboku. I pressed my forehead into the wood, willing myself to disappear into it. I wanted to lose myself, because being was just too hard.

"But what comes next…you're not prepared for it."

"Sayonara, Kagome."

"Inuyasha…what have you done to me?" I whimpered. I struck the tree with my fist. Pain shot up my arm, momentarily numbing my right side. I hit tree again. A little drop of blood remained behind, right over the old scar in the trunk. I aimed right for that spot, and threw my fist out again.

A shock went through my body, sharp as a bullet and shaped like a lightning bolt. I whirled around, my eyes hunting the shadows. "Hello?"

Nothing moved, but the feeling came again, stronger, closer. I shivered and ducked behind Goshiboku. My whole frame was quivering. I waited for fifteen minutes, pressed against the tree, but nothing ever came. I left.

(-)(-)(-)

"Moshi-moshi."

"Kagome-chan?"

"Hi, Sango-chan."

"I'll take you over."

"…"

"Kagome-chan, are you still there?"

"Yeah…arigato, Sango-chan."

(-)(-)(-)

Sango's car pulled to a tentative halt in front of the shrine steps. Sango turned off the lights and the ignition and then looked at me. "No more than fifteen minutes, ok?" she said.

"Ok, mom," I teased. I was eager to get back up there, to see what I had missed a month ago.

A month, yeah, it had been a whole month. This was the third month since I had last seen Inuyasha in that hospital room, since he had told me that I wouldn't be included in the latter portion of his plans. I went from tears to hate to fear to resignation, and now I was still, unmoving, yet somehow standing. Hours passed like eons, and I already felt like an old woman. The life I had learned to depend upon was shattering around me, and I was sitting back, watching the pieces crumble.

Spring was a new arrival to my solitude. It danced along the wind and kissed the ground, spreading a blush of daffodils and tulips across the earth's visage. But the flowers contained no surprises for me, and a stiffness had formed in my soul that could not be banished by spring's giddiness.

I took the stairs slowly. I passed under the torii, and moved right to Goshiboku. Settling onto the bench, I allowed my mind to wander back to last spring, when I sat beside my mother, gazing up into the leafy boughs as Goshiboku sighed.

"Kagome?"

"Eh?"

"Don't you feel some kind of mysterious power while next to Goshiboku? You become somewhat gentle. Don't you feel as if your heart becomes more pure?"

I nodded.

"This is where your father proposed to me."

"Eh?"

"Of course I liked him, but you know, the day before we fought over a small thing. I was really nervous and wondering if we could work it out or not. But when I came under this tree, I could feel myself being purified. And thanks to that I was gifted with you, Kagome, and Souta. I dearly thank this tree."

I closed my eyes. "Thank you, mama."

I walked to the tree, feeling brave now, and strong. I circled the trunk, letting my arm dangle loosely behind me, tracing the meandering patterns in the bark. When I reached the front of the tree, I clasped my hands in front of me and bowed my head.

"I'll wait then," I said aloud. "I'll wait until you're ready to let me help. I'll wait forever just…" I almost choked on my next words, but took a deep, steadying breath and continued, "just come home, Inuyasha."

All of a sudden, that strange tingling shock coursed through me again. My eyes flew up to the Goshiboku, right to the scar embedded in the trunk. A little glint met my curious gaze. "What in the-?" I questioned, leaning forward to examine the glint with my fingers.

I met a sharp end, and pulled my hand back with a protest. But the glint continued to bother me, and I tried again. This time I got it free, and opened my palm to reveal a tiny purple crystal. "What?" I asked.

I whirled around, and was greeted by a sound punch across the jaw. I was knocked back into the Goshinboku, my body striking the trunk hard as the air fled from my lungs.

"Now, now, Juuroumaru," a woman's voice cooed, no need to get rough."

I looked up, and found myself staring into the made-up face of one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. She was resting on one hip, her arms crossed over her chest. Her thin frame was wrapped in the sort of suit that appears in Vogue on some half-starved model. She was carrying a fan, and her short black hair was tied up in a stylish bun. Her eyes were a stunning red.

"Who-Who are you?" I asked, pushing myself up.

"Me?" she asked coyly, pointing her fan at her chest. "Atashi wa Kagura, vice president of the Third Sector. And this here is Juuroumaru, co-vice president of the Sixth Sector."

Government officials. Heads of Sectors. Oh my God, I thought, I am so dead. "What do you want?" I snapped.

She was holding a chain in one hand, and the chin led to a strange man with purple hair. He was on all fours, with a mask over his face. The sight of him made me ill. I reached for the gun I had the foresight to tuck inside my belt.

"We were sent here to wait for you, after you showed up last month," Kagura explained in a bored voice. She opened her fan and started to apply air pressure to her face. "Now, if you come with us easily, I promise we won't hurt your little friend down there in the car."

I took out my gun and fired three shots. One for Kagura, and two for that monster she was holding on to. Then, I turned and sprinted away.

I'd gotten about twenty feet when I was in a deadlock. That…thing named Juuroumaru was holding onto me, his palms pressed into the back of my neck. Kagura approached slowly, examining a wound in her chest.

"Gross. You've ruined my suit," she commented.

"What the fuck are you?!" I shrieked, my stomach rebelling against the sight of her fingering her bullet wound. I threw up all over the ground.

"Oh dear," Kagura said, clicking her tongue in disgust. "I'm not cleaning that up." She finished looking at her bullet wound.

"All right, Juuroumaru, let's get her back to the boss."

I needed to get away. My arms flew up, and slipped through Juuroumaru's hold. I turned around and kicked him squarely across the jaw, He fell away, and I had time to notice that my last two shots had made quick work of his left leg. And yet he was still moving. I felt dizzy.

I punched Kagura in the stomach. She crumbled over my fist and I took my cue to get away. Juuroumaru grabbed my ankles though, and I tumbled forward, hitting the stone so hard that I blacked out for a couple seconds.

The instant I regained consciousness, I pulled out my gun and fired into Juuroumaru's left shoulderblade. His arm fell away, deadened, but his face failed to register the pain. I kicked his other hand away and struggled to my feet.

My hair didn't follow, and barked in agony as Kagura attempted to jerk my hair out of my head.

"You little bitch," she growled. "That fucking hurt."

I slapped her hand away, then turned and pointed my gun right between her eyes. Apparently, Kagura was unwilling to test the potency of my bullet. She blinked demurely, and lifted her hands. I backed away a couple of feet. Then I spun around and ran for my life.

I ran right into a chest clothed in a familiar red t-shirt. I looked up, tears itching at the corners of my eyes, and breathed, "Inuyasha?"

(-)(-)(-)

The water stops. My back burns, seared by the pressure. My captors walk forward, their polished shoes making small splashes in the thin layer of water that covers the floor. One of them reaches up and unlocks the cuffs around my tiny wrists. I crumble to the wet earth despite my efforts to remain standing.

"There now, Kagome," he cooes in a sugary voice. His hand begins to smooth my dripping hair. "You're feeling rather tired now, aren't you?"

My eyelids droop in response. He takes me under the arms and helps me to my feet. "Stay there a minute, we'll get you a frock and a stretcher."

"I can walk," I mutter. I take a step forward, and find myself back on the…ground.

I'm already falling asleep.

The men leave, and then they come back. They put me in the little potato sack they call a frock, and help me lie down on the stretcher. They carry me into a dark room. They apply cooling ointment to my back. One man turns to the other and says, "See, this is the way to break a proud mule like this one: provide the sickness and the cure; cause them nearly unbearable pain, and then take away their martyrdom."

I'm too tired to really care.

A man in white gives me some sort of tea to drink. It makes me feel heady and light, and dissolves the pain in my limbs. I drink two glasses.

Something cool is attached to my temples. I am placed in a chair. I am given earplugs. Someone starts speaking, slowly. I can hardly understand, and at first I must strain to hear the voice above the sound of running water.

"Softer," it says, "softer and softer, Kagome. Softer and softer, into sleep."

It doesn't make much sense, but it works, slowly. A man in white comes with another cup of tea. Or…no…it just smells like the…tea. He puts it…

The voice…is still talking, but it's saying…something…else. I listen, and then…

(-)(-)(-)

I wake up suddenly. My cheeks are wet. My eyes are sore.

"…dead," the voice is telling me. "Inuyasha is dead. Inuyasha is dead. Inuyasha…"

A man in white brings me a glass of tea. I drink it. I begin to feel heady and light. I can't remember whether it's my cheeks that are sore and my eyes that are wet, or whether my feet are still attached to my body, but I'm certain of one thing:

Inuyasha is dead.

- Ichimu