Where Did You Go?

~By: Lauren~

-Chapter 2-

"Her Reality"

"What's that Inu-Yasha?" Kagome gave him an inquiring look mixed with confusion. Why was the half demon acting so nervous? Kagome had never seen him like this before. He kept fidgeting, bouncing from foot to foot while he was fiddling with something in his hand.

Finally, after what seemed like extremely long minutes, he shoved a velvet black box into Kagome's hands.

Kagome stared at the tiny gift in shock. Was this what she thought it was...? She gave Inuyasha a look, as if to ask if it were true.

"Will you marry me or not?" Inuyasha scratched his arm before running a hand through his hair. He played with the material of his red shirt. His eyes kept darting to Kagome's face, waiting for some kind of answer or reaction before they'd look back to the ground. He began to dig a hole in the dirt with his foot.

Kagome's jaw dropped at his words. "M-M-Marry...?" Her voice trailed off in disbelief as she opened the square box. Inside was a radiant, smooth golden ring. It was different though; it wasn't a normal gold. It had something else in it and that special something gave it a pinkish glimmer. It was magnificent. "H-how did you? Where did you?" She stuttered.

Inuyasha kicked a chunk of grass from the earth. "I asked Souta what people in your time did with the ones they loved. He told me they get a pretty ring and it binds them together forever. That they get 'married'...then they...." The hanyou turned bright red.

Kagome chuckled, blushing also. She couldn't believe it. Inuyasha was proposing to her!! To her, Kagome!!!

"Well, what's your answer?!" Inuyasha demanded, finally done with waiting. "Feh, just say you'll marry me. I want you to be my woman!"

Kagome chuckled with joy. Inuyasha was so strange sometimes but she loved him just the way he was. "YES!! YES!!! MY ANSWER IS YES!" She lunged forward, flying into his welcoming strong, warm arms. She was safe with her Inuyasha. She was happy with her Inuyasha. She was in love with her Inuyasha. She would forever be with her Inuyasha.

He leaned forward, his silver hair mixing with her black hair. Their lips pressed together tenderly in a joyful kiss.

~*~

Kagome jerked awake with a start. Her rapid breathing began to slow as she attempted to calm herself. She didn't need to inspect her surroundings; she already knew where she was and what her punishment would be. Because she had kicked the glass and was attempting to attack her mother, they had put her in what many patients called the "Solitary Black Box". It was a tiny room with no windows, no beds, and no pillows- nothing except plush walls and a metal door that was bolted shut. Kagome was lying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. It was nighttime, she assumed. Most of the time she didn't even know if it was light or dark out. Often the misbehaving patient would sit in this room for days on end, only receiving food or medication. Many of them would start going crazy after a week. Kagome snorted at this. Crazy. If they weren't crazy already, that is. She was already crazy so she didn't mind this punishment and either way, she was getting out the next day to go see this new doctor her mother had lined up for her. She lifted her hand up into the air and stared at the ring on her finger. The darkness of the room dimmed its sparkle and it looked as if it had been tarnished but after all these years, Kagome knew it was not true. She thought the ring was the most beautiful at night when it appeared tarnished. She thought this because after staring at the tarnished ring for so long in the black night, she swore it would just burst out with sparkling pink rays of light. The ring was the only thing that kept her sane- or at least, kept her believing. After being called insane for years, after being declared mentally unstable, one would start to believe that the people were right. That they had really lost their mind. But that single ring helped Kagome hang on. It showed to her that it really HAD happened- that she didn't just come up with the stories or imagined them.

He had given her that ring because they were to marry.

But where had he gone?

Why wasn't the well working?

And why did everybody forget except her?

Kagome just didn't understand. They had all seen and met Inuyasha before- her mother, her grandfather and Souta. So why did they pretend that he didn't exist? Why did he leave her? Did he not love her?

For a moment, some of Kagome's suppressed pain began to rise in her throat, threatening to become tears but she refused to cry. Instead, she let out a crazed laugh. No one had believed her. They tried to tear her away from the well, from the makeshift home she had created around it. They tried to force her to return to school and to her friends. They tried to throw away the mysterious ring that Kagome never let them touch. Her mother tried to talk to her and she pretended that what Kagome was saying was true. They all did at first until her mother forced her to go to see a therapist. She knew her mother meant well and that she was only worried. When her grandfather found out, he refused to allow Kagome to be taken there again. The two of them used to sit by the well while she told him all the things that had happened to her in the feudal era. Souta would never admit to it, but she knew he used to sit by the doorway and listen. She took comfort in it and it helped to ease some of the pain she felt in her heart. Her grandfather would listen patiently and hold her hand when she needed him to. But...then he began to grow sick. He got sicker and sicker...until...he was gone and Kagome was left all alone.

It had destroyed her.

Her mother took her back to the therapist but she refused to speak to them. Eventually, since they were making no progress, she was moved to a psychiatrist and then another and another. Kagome grew so angry of this and so weary. Her mother kept forcing her to go, saying it was for her own good, until one day Kagome finally snapped. She flung glass bottles, ancient fragile items, cooking utensils, plates, cups, books, vases- anything she could get her hands on. She trashed her room, tearing it apart as tears streamed down her cheeks and blood stained her hands.

That was when her mother took her to the asylums and she wasn't allowed to return home or go into the outside world. She was consisted 'unsafe'. From there on, she had traveled from place to place yet again and now...here she was. Ready to be taken to another useless clinic. So many times she was ready to give up hope- so many times she convinced herself she was truly crazy but then...where'd she get her ring? Maybe she had just found it and made up the proposal. So many times had she thought about giving up, about ending it all, about admitting that it could have all been a dream...but then there was that one time...

~Flash Back~

Kagome stared out of the window, pushing the blinds up so she could watch the busy world below her. Behind her, the droned out voice of her therapist ran on and on. She pushed the nagging noise into the back of her mind as a few gentle snowflakes floated carelessly to the earth. Each person bustled about with a place to go- a destination. Kagome didn't know where she was going.

They all lived in their own realities. She sometimes wondered what reality really was. A while ago, this question would have been impossible for her to answer. But now? Now, it was so very easy for her to answer it. Reality is what one sees around themselves- it's what they taste, touch, smell and interpret. Reality is a personal experience. Kagome's reality?

Her reality was hell.

Her eyes aimlessly scanned the people, searching for a face that she knew she would never, ever find. How could you find a person when they didn't exist? A few of the pearly white flakes landed on the window, melting instantly when they touched the warm glass.

That was when she saw him.

He was standing their, his hair now a shiny black color, as it had been when he was in his human form. At first Kagome thought she was imagining things, for he did look different as he stood wearing a pair of jeans and a heavy down jacket and tennis shoes. He did not have his dog-ears. Kagome would have never believed it was him if she hadn't had seen his eyes.

He was staring directly at her, his attention somehow caught by her. His eyes had an intense gaze, as they burned into her own.

Suddenly, the blinds dropped and closed, separating him from her.

Kagome's therapist stood angrily glaring at her. "Why aren't you listening?! Why won't you respond to me?" He was so tired of this dumb, mute girl.

Kagome growled as she reached for the string that lifted the blinds. She had to see him. She had to get to him. She had found Inuyasha! She wasn't crazy after all! They could be together forever!

The man refused to give the string back to her so Kagome reached forward, gripping the metal blinds tightly before she ripped them back, pulling them out of the ceiling. They crashed to the floor loudly as her eyes searched for Inuyasha, her hands pressed against the window.

But he was gone.

Had he truly been there in the first place? Kagome wasn't sure but either way her hopes had been restored.

~End of Flash Back~

Kagome sighed. The tall walls around her rose above. She couldn't even see the ceiling while the other walls closed in around her, trapping her. She had no way out. There were no entrances, no exits...soon she would suffocate and die.

She would die alone. No one knew where she was. After all, why should they? No one could possible believe where this...this place was. A lot of her so-called friends had finally stopped calling and visiting her house after she had turned them all away for so long. But they wouldn't have believed that their responsible, smart friend had lost her mind. Even Kagome had a hard time believing she was still sane. She began to panic, digging her fingers into the soft floor. "Oh...no..!! Please someone, please hear me! Please get me out of here! Please!!" Kagome screamed at the top of her lungs as she tightened her grip on the material. It was useless and she knew it. But she still needed, had to, wanted to... "Please, someone get me out of here!!" Once again, she knew that no one would hear her. The walls were soundproof. And if someone possibly did hear her, why would they come? She was a girl who had no sense left in her. Her words were only insane musings.

She wanted to get out. She needed to get out. The walls seemed to press closer and closer against her. It was getting harder and harder for her to breathe and all she wanted to do was GET OUT.

"Please...someone..." She sobbed as she fell to the floor. Her fists beat against the metal door but there was no point in doing so. She was stuck. For how long? Kagome didn't know. All she knew was that she had to get out.

"Wouldn't it be easy to let it all go...?" A sinister voice whispered from somewhere. Where? Kagome didn't know. It sounded like it was in her mind yet it was all around her also. Her eyes widened at the voice. She knew this voice. It had haunted her dreams since she had left Inuyasha's world. All of her life. All day and all night. No reprieve. No sanity. No breaks, no mercy. Just darkness.

"No..." She managed to whisper. Her eyes slowly closed and she huddled into a ball. "Oh no, oh no, no, no, no, no!!" The words repeated themselves over and over again. Never ending. Circling. Coming closer and closer until it finally decided to swallow her whole. Suddenly, hands where grabbing her. They where pulling her up roughly, pushing her, carrying her out of the room, down the hallways, into another room. She sat there in a tiny metal chair, her eyes shut tightly while she tuned out their voices. There was more carrying and she felt herself being buckled up inside a vehicle. She heard the sounds of life outside of the thick metal car. She tried to block them out as she shook. Finally, after what seemed like hours of agony, darkness grabbed hold of her.

~*~

Lauren: Wow! I've gotten such positive responses for this story! Thank you so much! Yeah...this chapter was mostly what has happened to Kagome up into this point and how she's feeling. Next chapter- ("His Reality") will be some Inuyasha stuff and then...they may possibly meet! Thank you so much and I hope you liked this chapter. Please review and tell me what you think! =)