Authors Note: Hello all you beautiful people you. I would just like it to be noted that as the time spent on summer break increases, my brain cells will diminish. It's truly sad, I've only been on break for three days and I'm already bored out of my mind. I can't even write to break the monotone of the day, seeing as the only working computer at my house is my dad's laptop which he takes to work everyday. SIGH Oh well, I guess I'll just have to deal. Anywho, I'd like to thank my grand total of six, count 'em six, reviewers. I love you all soooooooooo much!!!!!!!!! You guys make my day. Now here's a little something that will hopefully make yours a little brighter. Enjoy!-!

Chapter Three: Of Mailmen And Monsoons

"Nichole, stop pacing in front of the window and for the love of Hiei, stop biting your nails!" Paige exclaimed. "You're driving me up the wall!!" "Sorry", I mumbled, pausing my pacing and staring moodily out the window.

"That's it, I can't take it anymore!" I screamed. "It's been almost a week since he went to Makia. He should have written by now!"

"Chill," drawled Lyn calmly. "His mail is probably just held up at the post office. I mean, it's not like any sane person would go out in this weather." "It's not that bad" I stated simply. "Are you kidding me?" screeched Kagome. "We're in the middle of the monsoon!"

"Your point?" I queried, taking on one of those looks completely devoid of any emotion, especially humor. All three of my friends gaped at me then turned away with a sigh, knowing there was no sense in arguing further.

I gazed out the window, one hand on the glass, the other over my heart, my eyes trying to penetrate the pounding rain, searching, searching. But I knew it was no use. I wouldn't see him. "Hiei," I whispered. I started to cry, my forehead pressed against the glass, making it seem that a part of the rain had found its way inside.

"That's it", I said, my head snapping up. "I'm not waiting anymore. If the people running the postal service don't have enough guts to drive in this puny drizzle, then I will!"

"What do you mean", asked Paige, temporarily snapping out of her reverie. "I'm going out." I stated.

Before any of my friends could respond, I grabbed my purse and jacket, slipping out of the door and into the rain.

The roads were deserted. "Good", I thought. "No one to get in my way."

I sped down the highway at 80 mph, barely able to see through the curtains of rain, making my turns sharper than was wise. My little Bug shook in the gale force winds. I knew I was living dangerously, but I didn't care. All that mattered was getting to the post office and seeing his handwriting on a letter addressed to me. I looked down at the clock. 15 minutes until the post office closed until Monday. I sped up.

The door flew open and I stormed in, dripping wet, not having bothered to grab an umbrella on my way out of the house. I stomped up to the counter.

"Where do you get off, not delivering the mail for a week?" I demanded angrily. The man at the counter was stunned for a moment, then regained his composure.

"Ma'am," he said, "it is our policy to deliver the mail every day of the year that it is possible, with the exception of Sundays. However, days when a monsoon hovers over us are not counted among those days."

"You won't deliver the mail because of this?" I screamed, vaguely gesturing in the direction of the bank of windows. "This is nothing but a puny drizzle. Where's your courage?!"

"Ma'am with all due respect, this is much more than a drizzle. This weather is dangerous to drive in. The only reason I'm still here is because my house couldn't stand up to the wi-" he cut off as I vaulted over the counter, grabbed him by the neck, lifted him up and slammed him against the wall. "Listen, little man," I growled, teeth clenched and eyes blazing. "I have been waiting a week for a very important letter. I don't care if we have a tsunami headed towards us, multiple f-5 tornadoes wreaking havoc on the city and a volcano blowing its top in the middle of the town. I-WANT-MY-MAIL! I screamed, slamming him even harder to the wall and allowing him to slither to the ground.

He didn't respond for a moment. (I think it may have had something to do with the fact that he couldn't breathe. Finally he was able to pull himself up off the ground, crawl to the mailroom and retrieve my mail. I snatched the letters, stuffed them in my jacket and ran to the parking lot, not bothering to wish him a nice day or apologize for roughing him up.

The moment I got in the car, I floored the pedal. It was almost as if I was afraid that the man at the counter would come and wrestle my mail away from me if I stayed in the parking lot another minute.

As I was driving off, I spotted an empty Wal-Mart parking lot and pulled in. Hands trembling, I reached in my jacket pocket for the mail and began to flip through it.

"Bill, bill, postcard from Aunt Amy, bill, solicitation, letter from Sessho, junk, magazine, letter from Inuyasha, letter from Sessho, magazine, advertisement, bill, bill, and 7 more letters from Sessho."

I stared blankly out my window for a moment. Then it hit me. There were no letters from Hiei. It had been a week since he had left me, yet there was nothing from him to tell me how he was doing. My brain tried to find a reason for the lack of contact. Maybe he'd written and the letters hadn't been able to get through. But that didn't make sense. Sesshomaru had already sent Alivia about 10 letters. Maybe he'd been to busy. No, that didn't work either. He would have found time to write.

There were no false dreams left to cling to. I'd always been a practical girl. Now I had to face the facts. He hadn't written me. He had forgotten about me.

Now I drove slowly, almost crawling back home. As I opened the door, Lyn called "Hey Nicole," never looking up from her book. I stood inside the doorway a moment.

"There's some stuff here for you, Lyn, and some for Paige and Kagome as well." I said as I deposited the mail on the table by the door, my voice flat and lifeless.

Lyn looked up at me.

"Nicole, are you okay? What happened?" she questioned, concern in her every word.

"I'm fine." I replied, my voice shaking even as I tried to wave off her question. She stared accusingly at me, as though she knew I was lying.

"I'm kinda tired" I muttered. "I'm going to go rest a bit before dinner, o.k.?"

"Okay," replied Lyn, watching me go with wary eyes.

I walked slowly to my room, closing my door behind me. I collapsed on my bed and proceeded to cry myself to sleep.

A.N.—Yeah, so anywho, I've finally finished up the third chapter and put it out. Hope you enjoyed. Sorry for not putting this out sooner, but what can I say? I've been busy and didn't fell like spending what free time I've had on the computer. Believe it or not, I actually have a life outside fanfiction. SIGH Anyways, I have the next two chapters written, it's just a matter of taking the time to type them up. I'm working on it, I promise. So yeah. Love it, hate it, praise or flame, I don't care, just review.