Chapter 2

(--- I don't know how often I'll be updating this one, cuz I'm going to be VERY busy over the next few days.....Making a move from a small town in Michigan to the HUGE city of Los Angeles...So don't be EXPECTING fast updates, but be grateful if you get them....(j/k) Anyways, enjoy! Inuyasha is out of character, but oh well. That's the only way this story could work...Oh, and please review, if you love me....(wink) ---)

Apparently, Inuyasha hadn't been through enough. Watching Kikyo disintegrate after she freed him from his promise, and then finding that he couldn't see Kagome again - not enough pain. The dark night sky suddenly opened up, and the rains poured from the heavens. Just when you think things can't get worse? The only thing that can happen is that they get worse.

Inuyasha was broken. A hanyou that had lived a life without love, without trusting anyone, had found the elusive feeling (first with Kikyo, most recently with Kagome). Now, it was taken away from him. What did he have left? Naraku was finished; the sacred jewel was gone; Kikyo had left this planet once and for all; and now, he would never see Kagome again. Curled up in the fetal position, Inuyasha did the only thing he could will himself to do - lay in the bottom of the well, covered in dirt, letting the raindrops wash over him. His hands were bloody, from his frenzied digging. Inuyasha didn't seem to care, nor did he care about anything else. Always proud, if nothing else, Inuyasha had lost the will to live, the will to keep going. He wouldn't attempt to get up, to leave this spot. The rain began filling up the huge hole that Inuyasha had dug out, and if he didn't get out soon, he would drown in it. The pain was too much, though; Inuyasha welcomed the thought of death. Sob after sob racked his shivering body, and he screamed in sheer emotional agony.

"Miroku? Did you hear that scream???" Sango asked, jumping to her feet. Miroku, sitting across the hut, quickly jumped to his feet as well. "Yes, I heard it. We need to go check it out, Sango." Miroku replied, grabbing his staff. "Let's go." Sango yelled, grabbing her hiraikotsu as she ran out the door. Kirara followed, and Sango jumped on the firecat's back. "Follow the source of that yell, Kirara!" Sango yelled, as Miroku hopped on the cat's back. Kirara sped off through the air, heading towards the well. When they arrived, Miroku and Sango were STUNNED by what they saw. Inuyasha lying in the well, almost completely covered by water. "Inuyasha!!!!" Miroku yelled. Without thinking, Sango leapt into the well, landing in a puddle next to Inuyasha's body. "Get up, Inuyasha! You'll drown!!!" Sango screamed, trying to lift him up. "Back the fuck off!" He yelled. He didn't want to be 'saved'; he wanted his life to end, tonight. Sango was shocked, but she wasn't just going to let him die there. "We're your friends, Inuyasha. If you're going to die here tonight, then I'm laying down right next to you." Sango said quietly. She slowly layed her body into the now-massive pool of water surrounding Inuyasha. "What the hell are you doing? You'll kill yourself!" Inuyasha yelled, tears still dripping from his eyes. "If you're going to die here, than so am I." Sango said simply, turning away from him. This action seemed to finally pull Inuyasha out of his funk, and snap him back into reality. "Damn it, Sango!!!" He yelled, grabbing her around the waist and leaping out of the well.

The three friends arrived back in Kaede's village, Inuyasha refusing to speak. He was filthy, wet, and tired, but he refused to talk about anything. "You need to tell us what happened, Inuyasha. We need to know!" Miroku said, trying to get some sort of response out of him. He looked at the ground, his arms crossed. No words would come from his mouth. He didn't have anything to tell them; he just lost everything, and he didn't know WHY he should keep going. How could he tell them that?

"Here, take this towel." Sango said, tossing it to Inuyasha. "Why?" He mumbled, holding it on the tip of one claw. "Because I'm getting you out of these wet clothes, before you die of pneumonia." She said, pulling at his robe. He didn't fight her, didn't even motion to stop her. He had lost any will to live; the only reason he didn't die in that well was because of Sango. "Damn her, for interfering." Inuyasha thought to himself, as she quickly undressed him. When she got to his pants, he didn't even TRY to use the towel to cover himself up. Sango blushed heavily, but she was able to quickly place the towel over him. "There, I'll try to get these washed quickly. In the meantime, wear some of Miroku's clothes. They're right over there." She said, pointing to the pile in the corner of the room.

She was about to walk out, but Inuyasha grabbed her sleeve. She turned around, stunned that he was finally DOING something. "Inuyasha? What is it?" She asked, looking down at him. His eyes were glued to the ground, but he was ready to speak. "Why? Why did you do what you did, tonight?" He whispered. "Why? Because I care about you, Inuyasha. Because I don't want you to die. I'm....your friend." She whispered in response. "But...why do you care about me like that? I just.....don't get it." He muttered, tears forming again in his eyes. "You were there for me, Inuyasha. I lost everything I had, and you and your friends accepted me, like it was no big deal. I can never repay you for that; but I'll always be there for you, too." Sango replied, tears welling up in her eyes as memories flooded back. Inuyasha looked up at her, and he didn't know what to say. She was crying, now, as her heart ached for her brother and fallen comrades. Inuyasha did the only thing he could, he wrapped her in his embrace, trying to comfort her. Everything he had just been through, and he was comforting HER? Maybe he had something to live for, after all.

(--- Okay, that's all for this chapter. Sango was put in the story more in this chapter, after I kinda left her out of the first one. Hope you liked, and I'll try to update ASAP...Please review! ---)