Disclaimer : I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters in any way ,

Note ; suggestion would be to listen to a sad song and put it on repeat, or get a playlist while reading. For this chapter, I listened to Sustained By Hate From The Final Fantasy 13 Soundtrack. REALLY highly suggested ! Anyway, please enjoy !

Kagome stood in the spacious condo, staring proudly into a long, full body mirror. Her long, ebony hair was pulled back into a sleek pony tail, with the slightest of bangs in the front. Her skin was clear, but seemed thinner than usual. Her lips plump from apply and re applying lipstick and eyelashes long and black. She wore a smooth black suit, with a pencil skirt reaching just below her knees. She wore low heels, good for movement and office work. She gave herself a second glance and smiled. She'd changed a lot from the person she was before. She no longer wore breast reducing bras, or fake glasses. She wanted to be real, be herself. Sesshoumaru had taught her, no matter how bad you are, you can always have someone who loves you, that was all she needed.

Kagome hummed to herself as she walked down the busy streets to her workplace. She disregarded the turning heads and continued on, heels clacking and papers shaking in her hands. It had been so long since she'd last gone to work, she had missed her old job. Sesshoumaru had previously told her that her place as his secretary wouldn't be available for some time, but she was content. She felt so happy this morning, nothing really mattered.

As soon as she got to work, the complements poured onto her. She found that this was the first time she'd gone to work with makeup on, and without her usual image-reducing additives. The long walls of her office greeted her nicely. The usual meek and tired feeling she felt in that small little space seemed to have been washed off of the walls with water from gods. Kagome's phone rang as soon as she'd set down all her things. She picked it up, to hear Kagura's voice over the intercom.

"Kagome san? Taishou sama would like to see you in his office."

"Alright, i'll be right there!" She chirped back, standing up readily and walking towards his office. Kagome opened the door and closed it behind her. The knob was cold on her hands and the room was dark. Papers were skittered all over the floors, making Kagome giggle to herself. Just like before, isn't he?

"May I help you Taishou sama?" Sesshoumaru didn't move from his lifeless looking place at his desk, his head draped over the papers covering the dark wood below. Instead, he waved his hand mildly, then dropped it back at his sides. Kagome knew to go forward, smiling along the way.

"Send my suit in to be pressed, call Nagasaki san and cancel dinner on Thursday, there's an affair I must attend instead, you will accompany me. Then please send me the new changes for the game that's coming out, get the reviews from the Haneda software that just came out, write up the proposal to Kinda corp, pick up the papers from the printer on A street and please call Kouga into my office." Sesshoumaru groaned.

Kagome smiled, remembering the old days, when she did work to prove herself to Sesshoumaru, not to pass the time.

"Yes sir. Ah, um, Kouga? Why are you calling for him?" Kagome asked, picking up a large stack of papers.

Sesshoumaru growled and lifted his head.

"He left a message with Kagura that he wanted to speak to me." Kagome nodded and opened the door to leave, but heard Sesshoumaru chuckle in the background.

"What?" She asked.

"I just noticed, how large your breasts look today." Sesshoumaru smirked at Kagome, who blushed red hot. But, she quickly bantered back.

"Coming from the man with sticky tack on his forehead." Sesshoumaru furrowed his brow as he reached up and pulled a thin piece of blue stickie tack off of his face.

"Goodbye Taishou sama." The young woman laughed as the large black doors shut loudly.

Kouga stood in Sesshoumaru's office, twiddling his fingers angrily. He didn't really know what to say, but he knew what he felt. He smoothed out his dress pants once more, then reached up and pushed back his hair once again. Sesshoumaru turned around in his chair and placed his elbows on the long desk. He was a handsome man, almost beautiful like a woman.

"What brings you to my office?" Kouga nervously swept back his hair, and opened his mouth to speak.

"I don't want to speak to you today as a superior, but as a man." Sesshoumaru raised one eyebrow, then leaned back in his chair. He unbuttoned the top of his dress shirt, then flashed his silver eyes at Kouga.

"Well then, what seems to be the matter Kouga?" Sesshoumaru crossed his arms and smirked, only raising Kouga's anger.

"Kagome.. is my girlfriend. She is my woman. Did you... did you sleep with her?" Sesshoumaru paused for a moment, his eyes fixated on the young man before him.

"Yes. We did sleep together." Kouga shook with anger at how easily he said it.

"Did you know we were dating?"

"No."

"Well, now that you do know, are you going to leave from her, so that we can be together?"

"No." Kouga felt like punching him in the face.

"Well then why the hell not?"

"Because. If she were truly your woman, she wouldn't be coming to me, would she?" Kouga gritted his teeth.

"No, not if your tricking her. Or seducing her."

Sesshoumaru laughed. "She seduced me." Kouga stepped forward, slamming his hand down on the desk.

"Now you listen here! Kagome is not that kind of woman!" He shouted. Sesshoumaru did nothing but smirk back at the young man.

"Well, didn't seem that way when she was moaning in-" Kouga grabbed Sesshoumaru's collar and shook him.

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP! You liar! You didnt do anything with her! You disgusting pig, you just used her and hurt her!"

Sesshoumaru stopped smirking and looked down on the man that hung his head before him, still clinging to his shirt collar.

"If you want to make this physical then let's go." Kouga gripped his shirt collar tighter, then tried to punch him on the side of the face. Sesshoumaru ducked out, twisting Kouga's hand's off of his collar. He quickly delivered a blow to Kouga's stomach, making him fall back slightly.

"Chh.. Cheap shot." Kouga said, one eye closed, the other opened. Sesshoumaru smoothed out his shirt and returned to his seat.

"I am willing to do whatever it takes to make Kagome my woman. I don't plan on being stopped by someone as feeble as you."

Kagome walked down the hall, carrying her stack of papers. She felt great, like her life was finally complete. Everything was going well today, everything was okay for once. The best part was, in three days, she was officially twenty two.

Kagome's head erupted in pain, sending shock waves through her mind. Her arms fell lifeless, sending papers sprawling across the floor. She stood silent for a few moments, her eyes as wide as basketballs. Her legs fought to keep her up, shaking underneath the weight. Kagome screamed at the top of her lungs, as the pain was so great, that was all she could do.

And then there was the blood. It gushed out of her mouth, like as if a faucet had been turned on. Her heart beat against her ribs like a bomb about to explode. She fell to the floor, her hands and knees holding her up. The blood gushed and gushed, she didn't know what to do. And then she just couldn't scream, she couldn't move; she was frozen. Blood stained the papers below her, as well as the light hard wood floors.

"Auu... ghhh... hee..heellp.....auu...ghhh..."

Kagome leaned forward and slammed onto the cold floor. She felt the pool of liquid below her soak her jacket and blouse and finally to her skin. Everything suddenly went so cold. the walls blended with the floor, the space around her blurred. She thought she heard the call of Sesshoumaru's voice. But she couldn't make out what she was saying. She was brought back to that moment, in his office when they met. The words he uttered to her, the time he brought her home, being at the Taishou Mansion, the time they spent apart, the time they spent together.

"Se....sesshou....sesshoumaru......sesshoumaru..."

Kagome muttered the words, trying to reach her hand forward to touch him. To touch his face, to hold him. But her hand wouldn't budge. The damned hand wouldn't move an inch.

Kouga slammed his fist onto the egg white wall of the emergency waiting room. Sesshoumaru sat in a chair across from him, his face in his hands. Kagome had been in the O.R. for what felt like days. One of their co-workers heard her screams and found her mumbling in a pool of her own blood. They quickly got her onto a stretcher, where her heart beat continued irregularly.

"You know that slamming your hands onto walls wont make change anything."

"Would you shut the hell up." Kouga cursed under his breath.

"Acting like an ignorant child wont change anything either." Sesshoumaru sat back, his face dry. He couldn't get out the emotion he wanted. He felt like his world was caving in, but all he could do was put up more and more of his emotion armor, as he remembered Kagome had once called it.

"And lemme guess, your fucking iron man right? I bet you never even cared about her, all you wanted is another piece of ass. Isn't that right?"

Sesshoumaru didn't even flinch at Kouga's insults.

"Continue if you must, to make yourself feel better." At the slight clack of heels, Kouga perked up. Surely enough, a young, blond nurse turned the corner, holding a brown clip board. Her skin was as white as her outfit, and her face as beautiful as an angel. She smiled halfheartedly at the people in the waiting room, each with their own kind of sorrow.

"Anyone here for.... Kagome, Higurashi?" Kouga sprung up, watching the young nurse carefully. Sesshoumaru stood as well, his expression unmoving. She smiled at them, then gestured for them to follow.

The men followed her down a long, white hall. Along the sides, stretchers littered the walls. Some filled with pain reeked people, others with only the lingering memory of having held someone seething in pain. Blood stains covered some of the soft white sheets, others were as clear as snow. The nurse stopped at the end of the hall, turning towards the boys.

"So, before we go in, I'd like to let you know about Kagome san's condition." Before she could go on, Kouga jumped in.

"Is she alright? Do they know what caused it?! Is she going to need surgery?" Sesshoumaru placed a firm hand on his shoulder, making him shut up for the moment. He brushed off Sesshoumaru's hand, turning back to the secretary.

"Uhm, well, you see. Kagome san has a rare heart condition. It's been weak from her early childhood this report says."

Kouga watched the woman intently. Sesshoumaru understood, she had told him this all before.

"And it says here she wasn't supposed to live past the age of seventeen, but lord knows that girl fought. But, there must be a time when we all stop fighting, right? Kagome san's heart has done just that. The headaches are caused by lack of oxygen, and the throwing up blood is from internal bleeding.

"Her heart is basically killing itself, and its taking everything along with it. Kagome san cannot leave the hospital now, as her heart is on a respirator and MUST stay on it." Kouga started crying hatefully, but Sesshoumaru remained expressionless.

"We're going to go and see Kagome san, but you must be careful. Don't be too sudden, and be sure not to excite her heart too much."

Sesshoumaru nodded, and pushed Kouga forward towards the end of the hall so that he could gather himself. Sesshoumaru touched the nurse's arm before she walked away. He looked thoughtfully into her eyes.

"How long does she really have left?"

The woman looked as if she'd been pierced in the chest. She looked down at her papers, hesitantly replying.

"W..With the respirator... less than a month. Without it, about... a week."

Sesshoumaru kept his composure, his expression lacking emotion. He nodded and the nurse was away. When he looked back, Kouga was sitting in a chair, weeping to himself. He waved away Sesshoumaru as he turned the knob slowly.

"Sesshou..maru..?" A frail voice called from within. Sesshoumaru took a deep breath, pushing the door open. He tried to put on a smile, he tried to make a comment on her wonderful figure, he really did. But as he opened the door and took a look at her white skin with purple veins sticking out, her hair plastered to her head, her small little body curled up in the large hospital sheets,

All he could do was try to wipe at the tears that streamed down his face as Kagome struggled a smile.

"Why.. that's not a very good welcome.."

(:

Well, this has been the climactic third - to - last chapter. Kagome san's condition has been revealed for what it is, and its clear that its ready to take her, but is Sesshoumaru ready to let her go? Next two chapters will be VERY emotion-filled, so please read them!

Reviews make me want to write more, so please make sure to review after reading this chapter ! I haven't been getting many lately ( like, seriously, like ... none. D: ), and I feel a bit insecure D; ( i have to take over from YUKI san, its really important to me to know im doing a good job )

Why not review right now ? :D It really means a lot ! Thank you !