Hey everyone!

In this chapter we return to Inuyasha's POV and for part of it we see Miroku's POV/ 3 person omniscient (not sure which-lol). I hope you guys are enjoying this story. I'm trying my best, but it is my first fiction. Don't forget to review! Enjoy!

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Inuyasha awoke before anyone else, as he did every day. He simply opened his eyes and peered around the clearing. It was just as it had been yesterday, except now there was no trace of Kagome. Even though barely anything was gone...the absence of Kagome made the clearing feel empty for Inuyasha. The sun had just risen and Inuyasha prepared himself for the day. They are going to be upset, so get ready to deal with them.

The first one to awake was Shippo. The little kitsune rolled over, expecting to find Kagome next to him, and seeing as he couldn't seem to find her with his eyes closed, he opened them. That was when all hell broke out inside little Shippo's mind.

"Kagome's gone!! Kagome's gone!!" He frantically called, but seeing as how neither Sango nor Miroku were roused from their slumber, he decided to announce the news a little louder for them. "KAGOME'S GONE!!!! WAAAAA!!!" Shippo promptly sat down and began to cry because he didn't know what to do now. Sango and Miroku finally emerged from sleep.

"What is wrong little one?" The monk seemed to be feeling much more compassionate this morning. As Miroku tried to find out what on earth had Shippo so upset, Sango took a look around the clearing. Soon, she found the problem.

"Miroku..." Hearing his name, especially coming in such a pained way from Sango, he looked up. He followed the direction of her gaze until he found the empty spot where Kagome should be.

"Kagome's not here? How odd..." The monk stopped to think about the options. "She's probably just bathing Shippo, don't worry."

"She's gone" said Inuyasha from where he was standing, speaking for the first time that morning. At this, Shippo started to cry louder, and buried his face in Sango's lap.

"She's really.... gone?" Sango asked, her voice steeped in worry. Inuyasha quickly nodded, and Sango turned her gaze to the ground.

"Why would she leave us? She had no reason...this sounds most unlike Kagome" Miroku pointed out. "Well, she can't be far away, we must leav to look for her immediately."

"She's gone" Inuyasha repeated. "Let's move on."

"What are you saying Inuyasha?!?" Miroku asked, alarmed at Inuyasha's reaction. "We must find her!" He stood up to take action.

"Yes, I agree" said Sango, looking up at Inuyasha from where she was sitting.

"No, we're leaving" Inuyasha said this with a face as cold as a statue's and the group couldn't believe what he was saying.

"Inuyasha..." Miroku slowly said, fully aware to be careful of enraging Inuyasha, "we must look for..."

"NO" thundered Inuyasha, his face turning red with rage and frustration, "WE ARE LEAVING. NOW!!!" Inuyasha then turned around and began to walk away.

"Miroku, maybe it's better just to follow him for now...Inuyasha is behaving strangely...something must have happened..." Sango looked at Miroku waiting for an answer.

"Yes, perhaps you are right. Come on." Miroku helped Sango to her feet, they gathered their things, and they started to follow Inuyasha down the path, Shippo still crying into Sango's arms.

Inuayasha walked on with a pace that seemed very fast for such a calm, cool morning. Sango, Miroku, and Shippo were still walking quite a way behind Inuyasha. Shippo had finally stopped crying, but it seemed he had fallen into a state of deep depression, clinging to Sango's leg as he walked. They had been walking in silence for about four hours or so, and Miroku could no longer stand it.

"That's it! I'm going to go ahead and talk to Inuyasha, you two stay back here." Sango nodded, showing she understood. Miroku quickened his pace to a run, and caught up to Inuyasha more quickly than he had expected. Miroku was not one to beat around the bush, but he didn't want to anger Inuyasha if it was possible to avoid.

"Inuyasha, what are we doing?" he asked.

"We're looking for jewel shards as we do every day, you stupid monk!" Inuyasha growled.

"Yes, but what are we doing without Kagome?"

"Looking for Jewel Shards!! Why do we need that stupid girl to look for the shards?!? We don't!!" Inuyasha was practically yelling at this time, and Miroku could see that he had not reached his goal of keeping this a peaceful conversation.

"Inuyasha, even you are not fool enough to actually think that. Kagome is the only one who can see or sense the jewel shards; without her it's blindly wandering around hoping we happen across one. Your argument is feeble," at this point Inuyasha's face turned bright red and he was about to yell at the monk for insulting him, but the monk put up a hand to stop him and said, "so what is the real reason we aren't searching for Kagome?"

"We don't need her" Inuyasha growled, this time softly and almost to himself. Miroku thought that it was almost as if Inuyasha was telling himself 'I don't need her.'

"Inuyasha, you know that's a lie. We need Kagome to find those shards. Besides, she's our friend. We need to find her. We love her like a member of our own family and we would never abandon her. I can't believe that you would" said Miroku, a sad tone entering his voice.

"SHE LEFT US!!!" Inuyasha cried, turning around to look at Miroku, birds scattering from the trees from the boom of Inuyasha's voice. "She left of her own free will" he said, softly this time. Miroku noticed that Inuyasha's eyes seemed a bit wetter than usual.

"What do you mean, she left us?" Miroku asked, stunned at this new information. They heard a gasp behind them, as Sango and Shippo had approached and finally heard the truth. Sango looked so shocked, but had a look of determination, while Shippo simply started to cry silent tears.

"She left by her own choice. I tried to stop her...but... she, she said she was going away for awhile. I...I wanted to follow her, but I let her go. She said... she didn't know when she'd be back." Inuyasha said all of this in a quiet whisper. Suddenly, Sango burst out,

"We must find her!!" Inuyasha started to protest, but Sango kept talking, not allowing Inuyasha time to speak. "She could be in danger Inuyasha!! Did you ever think of that? Besides, what possible reason would she have for leaving us like that? Something is wrong and we have to help her. Kagome is like family to me! She took me in and helped me when I needed it most. I'm not willing to abandon her when she needs help, and I won't allow another member of my 'family' to die!!"

"I agree, Inuyasha," said the monk.

"Yeah!" Shippo piped in, a bit less tearful than before.

"I'm not willing to let Kagome go, Inuyasha" Sango said, finding new strength within her self, and tears forming in her eyes. "Are you willing to risk losing Kagome forever?" It was at this point that Inuyasha realized to the full extent what he had done. "Even if you won't go to find her, I will!" Sango was preparing to turn around and leave.

"I will accompany Sango" Miroku said with a completely straight face.

"Me too!" shouted Shippo, excited by the thought of finding Kagome.

"Will you join us Inuyasha?" Miroku asked. They're right, Inuyasha thought, No matter what, I can't leave Kagome in danger. With that Inuyasha sped off in the direction that he smelled Kagome, and the others quickly followed, determined to find the missing member of their 'family'.

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Hope you liked it! Sorry it took so long to post! Review!

Love,

Kira