Disclaimer : Forget walls, they're the worst thing you can ever have if you want a conversation. Blah .. so it's back to obsessing in Inuyasha ne ? But no, he's not mine. – scowls –

NOTE: 1000 apologies, you guys ! There's been so many things going on, but yes, I know, it shouldn't take four months like I did.I was on a vacation to Hong Kong, and when I came back, I had to catch up on all the school work I had missed. Then there was that nasty virus I told you guys about ( I think ) that ate everything up that was in my computer, so it took a while to get everything back online. I know, not that good of an excuse, I'm sorry !But don't worry, I will definitly get thelast chapter up no matter what.I already know what's going to happen, and I think you guys will be satisfied with it.. hopefully? ( hmm .. I wonder if any of my reviewers remember that I'm still alive ? )

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Ignoring the burning feeling his lungs were crying out to him, he raced on, determination and guilt etched in his face. It was all his fault. It was always his fault.

He had visibly tensed, he knew, since Kagome's grip on his kimono had tightened. He could see that her knuckles were white and her nails were digging into his skin. Any other time, he would've growled and snapped at her to relax and lay off, but now, he knew he couldn't blame her.

As he raced over tall buildings and structures, he could feel that Kagome wasn't completely comfortable, and she wasn't use to the air she had to breathe up there. But Inuyasha knew he had no choice. He had to get there, before it was too late.

Inuyasha shut his eyes for a moment, trying to envision what she had said the day before ..

' Great ! '

' Well actually, you can keep your red thing if you want to and pretend you do karate .. '

' Ooh that's a good idea ! Show them that you're all 'core and stuff ! '

' This is gonna be so cool ! '

' Remember, tomorrow at 3 sharp ! Bye ! '

Inuyasha swallowed as the guilt rolling around in his stomach increased. He furrowed his brows, unconsciously digging his claws into Kagome's bare thigh. And I had agreed. Then I forgot. What the hell got me so distracted ?

Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. He tensed again. It was ..

" Inuyasha ? " Kagome's voice suddenly rang out to his ears. She clutched onto his robe a little harder and tried to look at his face. " What's wrong ? You're more tense than ever. "

Without thinking, the hanyou jerked his head to the woman on his back, " Well shouldn't you be too ! Kumiko could be in danger, and I .. WE weren't there to protect her ! Of course I'm tense ! " he spat, his voice laced with venom.

Inuyasha turned his head back around, and winced when he saw the hurt flash in Kagome's brown orbs. He swallowed, but didn't look back.

I'm sorry Kagome ! I didn't mean to do that. I just, GODS, I don't even know.

" You're right. I'm sorry. " she said quietly, as she laid her head on Inuyasha's back, which stiffened the moment she laid her head on it. Quickly, she lifted it off and mumbled an apology.

" No, get yer head back on my back, " Inuyasha ordered, shrugging a shoulder for emphasize. He wasn't going to let her think he was uncomfortable around her. He wasn't. He was just .. just ..

Inuyasha's thoughts were cut short when Kagome gave a gasp on his back. " There's her school ! Go Inuyasha, Go ! "

" Don't hav'ta tell me twice ! " He shouted, as he flew into an alley across from the school. He knew he sounded rude, but he knew Kagome knew that was his way of agreeing.

Landing smoothly onto the rough cement in the alley, Kagome quickly whipped out the black and red cap Inuyasha had despised so much and carefully wedged it down onto the unhappy hanyou's skull.

Together, they strolled out and quickly made their way across to the school. In Kagome's horror, three ambulances were parked carelessly across the road. Unknowingly, she gasped behind her hand, which caused Inuyasha to raise an eyebrow. " What ? "

Glancing at him guiltily, the woman shook her head and motioned him to follow her. Inuyasha didn't stop her, but he knew, she was hiding something from him. But he also knew, he was going to find out soon. Giving the weird flashy light vehicles one more look, or glare, the hanyou quickly followed Kagome and spotted her, trying to push her way through a crowd. He frowned. Something's telling me this ain't gonna be pretty.

When Inuyasha approached the crowd, Kagome was still having a hard time getting her way across. Growling at how inconsiderate all the humans were, the hanyou roughly pushed everybody out of the way, earning glares and surprised looks. " Get outta the way if you don't want to get hurt. " he warned in a low voice, as people around him gasped and bounced away.

A man had grabbed his hand, but when he whipped around glaring his amber orbs at him, the coward immediately retreated. Inuyasha fought the urge to roll his eyes. And he hadn't even seen his claws yet.

" Thanks, " Inuyasha heard Kagome mutter, as the crowd immediately parted for the pair. Quickly, they made their way to the front, only to have a strip of paper labeled 'Police', blocking their way. Unbeknownst to what it was, Inuyasha prepared to slash it apart, before Kagome's hand grabbed him. He looked at her questionably, a little annoyed, but didn't say a word. Her face, wasn't facing towards him, but he could see, it was pale and afraid. When he saw what she was looking at, Inuyasha almost fainted.

A body was lying motionless on a stretch bed with a white blanket pulled up to her chin. Black raven hair sprawled across the face, making it impossible to see who it was. But when the two men dressed in white strolled to both sides of the bed and lifted it up, the head of the girl rolled, revealing a familiar face. A very familiar face.

Kumiko.

A whimper cut through his thoughts, and he turned slightly to see who it was. Next to him, Kagome had her hand clamped over her mouth, her eyes were crinkled up, her cheeks stained with tears. Her shoulders were shaking, and the guilt already taking over his body, paralyzed him.

Without saying a word, the hanyou slowly wrapped his arm around the shaking woman. Any other time, he would've felt extremely embarrassed and would've started making excuses in his head of why he was doing it, but now, he knew she needed it. The moment his arm touched her trembling shoulder, she had quickly turned to him, burying her head into his chest, crying openly. It broke his heart in two.

His eyes never left the broken girl on the stretch bed, and deep inside, he kept on praying, that she would suddenly spring back to life, laugh like she always had, and exclaim it was all a joke. A joke to get him back for forgetting ..

He closed his eyes, and his claws drew blood from his hands. He had forgot, and Kumiko paid the price. It was so wrong. If only he had ..

" Hey, you ! " a rude voice snapped him from his trance. Inuyasha quickly jerked his head towards her, his hanyou instincts kicking in. There was so much anger in the voice ..

The girl, obviously a schoolgirl judging by the uniform, jumped in front of him. Inuyasha stared, knowing that she meant no harm. But he suddenly felt very uncomfortable,

As if hell had suddenly broken loose, the girl burst into angry tears. This surprised the half demon, and he was about to demand who she was, but she beat him to it.

" It's YOU ! " she yelled, and she jabbed a accusing finger at him, causing people around them to stare. Inuyasha practically gaped, taking a step back.

" You're Inuyasha, aren't you ? You .. you caused this ! It's all your fault ! " she yelled, her voice cracking in between sobs. Shock was evident on the half demon's face, and he felt fear creep into his stomach .. fear of what she would say.

" It's all your fault ! " she repeated angrily, her face contorted with fury. " She waited for you ! For an hour ! Kumiko's NEVER waited that long for ANYTHING ! But she waited for you. She waited for you ! You useless piece of trash ! "

Inuyasha couldn't believe it. His eyes widened. What was this ? A flashback to when he was younger ? When all the humans hated and picked on him ? No. This was different. It evolved around Kumiko. What was she trying to say ?

As if reading his mind, the furious schoolgirl jerked her head fiercely at him, glaring at him. " She said you'd come. She'd believed you did. But you didn't did you ! No. You didn't. She got tired of waiting, she did. So she rushed to the streets, to find you. But did you come ! NO ! You didn't ! Instead, some white car, comes zooming out of nowhere. She doesn't see it. She continued to look for you. "

The girl stopped in her tale, and fiercely wiped the tears from her eyes, her whole form shaking. " We screamed for her to stop, but she didn't listen. She kept on calling your name. ' Inuyasha, Inuyasha ! ', as if expecting you'd come out any second in your 360 GTC and sweep her off her feet. "

She snapped her head at the stunned hanyou and glared at him, hatred thick in her eyes. He took step back, and looked at her with wide eyes. " I-I .. didn't .. "

The anger radiating off the girl suddenly dissipated, replaced by sorrow and sadness. " Do you know how hard it was for all of us to see the car slam into her ? Do you know how it was ? To watch her body fly high into the air, then land motionlessly back onto the ground ? Do you know what I thought ? " Her anger had returned, and it was all directed to Inuyasha. " I THOUGHT SHE WAS DEAD OKAY ! "

While she let out a defeated sob, Inuyasha's eyes widened, if it was physically possible. His heart had stopped. His breath was caught. The girl in front of him, breathing so hard, with tears streaming down her face, had so much hate in her eyes. It pained him, knowing that he had caused it.

As if that wasn't enough, she cried and started thumping her small fists effortlessly on his chest, and continuously shouted, " I hate you ! I hate you ! I hate you ! I hate you ! I .. "

For a moment, the great and almighty Inuyasha, was completely dumbfounded, almost letting the girl try her best to hurt him. Everything inside of him, kept in for so long, had reached its limits. Before a second was over, his anger snapped. Both at himself, and at the girl. Her words wounded him, she had no right to tell him what was wrong and right. He grabbed her wrists on reflex, and growled dangerously at her. She gasped.

With narrowed amber slits, he prepared to push her back with strength, and warn her not to touch him. But she beat him to it again, with a slap.

Shocked, the semi-injured hanyou staggered back, backing against something solid. He quickly found his balance, and prepared to jump away from the figure, but a hand quickly grabbed onto his arm, its grip fierce. He turned, and found Kagome, watching the furious young girl with a strange look on her face. He had forgotten that she was there.

People around them started to talk, and some even tried stopping the young girl from physically launching herself at Inuyasha and trying to beat him. But it was hopeless.

" It's all your fault ! " she kept on screaming. She tried to lunge at him, but failed with the hands of the crowd on her. " Now she will die ! She will die because of your stupidity ! She will die because you weren't there for her ! She cared for you, dammit ! She cared for you so much ! She lov.. "

" NO ! " Inuyasha shouted, startling the girl and the people around them. Kagome had laid a gentle hand on him, but he jerked away, his bangs covering his eyes, hiding his expression.

Before anyone could do anything, the hanyou had grabbed a startled Kagome and pulled her towards the ambulance where Kumiko was put safely in. Just as they jumped on, the doors to the car slammed closed, trapping them temporarily in. Perplexed and frustrated by the mix of emotions pouring throughout his body, Inuyasha leaned back on the benches and fell limp. He closed his eyes, feeling a bead of sweat roll down his temple. He couldn't get the girl's words to get out of his head, her angered face, her tears, her hate for him. He had caused it, he can't deny.

Trapping everything around him, he didn't see Kagome sit down on the other side of the ambulance car, exhausted as well. She closed her eyes, and tried to get rid of the stress building inside of her. But like Inuyasha, the words Kumiko's schoolmate had processed, lingered in her mind mercilessly. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. She shot open her eyes and leaned forward, prepared to question Inuyasha before a sight stopped her.

Inuyasha, who was last seen leaning against the wall with eyes closed, had opened his amber eyes. Kagome followed his gaze, and it landed on the still Kumiko. Kagome wanted to cry. Kumiko's face was so pale, so scarily stoic. This wasn't the Kumiko she knew and raised. Blood was seeping through the white blanket draped over her, and dried blood had plastered the side of her forehead. Kagome held in a sob that prepared to escape. She wished it was a dream. It had to be.

But that wasn't the main reason she wanted to cry. Yes, it was wrong of her to think anything could be worse than this. But she couldn't help it.

Her gaze lifted, and it ended up on the distressed hanyou. He was trying to make it look unobvious, but was failing. Failing terribly. His body was pressed heavily against the wall, as if not caring, but his eyes were firmly on Kumiko, betraying his concern. Kagome felt her heart sank. His eyes, they were so filled with sadness, guilt, and ..

A sick, twisted feeling suddenly knotted her stomach. A bile taste had risen to her throat, and Kagome found it hard to breathe. There was something else in the hanyou's eyes, that was indescribable. But Kagome knew what it was.

It was love.

Kagome wanted to break down, she wanted to crumple to the ground, and die.

Tears flooded her eyes, and she angrily push them away. She wasn't mad, no. She was enraged.

What happened to the words you made me believe fifty years ago ? Her mind screamed at the distracted hanyou across from her. She pressed herself against the wall, as if trying to break through it and get out. Her face twisted into something ugly, her brows knitted tightly in the middle.

How could you just turn back on your words like that ! Is it because I'm old ? Is that why you choose to love someone else ? Why my own granddaughter ? Why HER ? Why not another woman I have never met ? Why the one I love ? Why take her away from me, when I've already lost you ? Why .. ?

" Kagome ? " the man in question asked, shaking Kagome out of her thoughts. She exhaled. It was then she realized she had been holding her breath all that time.

The woman looked up wearily, to face a confused dog demon, looking terribly cute when puzzled. He had his hat towering over his eyes, and would occasionally nod his head to flick the beak out of the way. She wanted to kick herself. Why must he look so incredibly handsome at a time like this ?

He leaned over the stretch bed, looking strained. " Kagome ? "

" I'm fine. " the old woman snapped, to Inuyasha and her own surprise. So, she was crabby. So what ?

" Kagome .. " the half demon started, his eyes narrowing. He wasn't stupid. He didn't just meet Kagome. He knew when something was up. Nodding towards her, he pressed on. " What's the matter ? "

" Nothing is the matter, nothing matters, everything's just a dandy ! It's none of your business anyway, why not .. why not go mind Kumiko, or something, and leave me alone. " she spat. It surprised Inuyasha, causing his eyebrows to shoot up, his eyes hurt. Kagome flinched and looked away. No. Inuyasha, don't talk to me. Don't talk to ..

" And how am I to mind Ku .. " he paused mid sentence, causing Kagome to wince. He had figured something was wrong.

Inuyasha furrowed his brows. With anger evident in his voice, with a pinch of concern, he demanded, " Kagome, what's wrong ? Don't give me crap that you're fine 'cos .. "

Before the hanyou could finish his sentence, the ambulance screeched to an immediate stop, startling both Inuyasha and Kagome. Reflexively, the hanyou firmly grabbed the rim of Kumiko's stretch bed, quickly glancing to see if she was alright. He didn't see the pain look on Kagome's face.

-

Inuyasha's amber eyes were glued onto the lifeless figure on the bed. He didn't dare move, a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his head. He wanted to concentrate on something, anything in the god darn room, anything but the aged woman sitting across the bed from him.

Inuyasha closed his eyes. He knew it was wrong to avoid Kagome. But there's been a tension between them ever since the hospital ride. He knew something was up and he was afraid to know.

He grunted. And there was Kumiko. He knew it was his fault that she was in this situation. Oh, how he wished he could turn back the hands of time ..

" Inuyasha ? " a gentle, yet tired voice called out to him. He shot open his eyes, and saw Kagome looming over him with a concerned look on her face. She smiled when he acknowledged her. " A-are you okay ? You were mumbling and .. "

" Yeah. " he broke in rudely. He was feeling incredibly grumpy, and didn't want Kagome to talk to him. Especially when she was so mean to him back there, he wanted her to know it felt .. even though he knew she was just sensitive that time.

Luckily, Kagome didn't seem to mind. She just nodded and retreated, as she tucked a strand of gray hair back into her tight bun. Backing away to the doorway, she said, "I'm going to see the doctor about this .. situation and, get some information. I'll be back, don't go anywhere. " Without waiting for an answer, she exited quickly from the room.

Inuyasha grunted and crossed his arms, fixing his position on the hard plastic chair. He tried to get comfortable, but it seemed impossible. Giving up, he got off the stupid chair and sat on the soft bed instead. He adjusted his weight, and looked at the other figure on the bed. His heart that felt extremely heavy, had just dropped down to his toes.

" Kumiko. " he unknowingly whispered aloud. " I'm sorry. "

Without thinking, he reached over and tucked a piece of stray black hair behind her ear. He looked at her almost adoringly, and just stared at her stoic face. She looked beautiful, but it just wasn't her. It had no life, and no brightness .. it was not Kumiko.

His heart tickled with anger, at himself. If he had been there on time, all of this wouldn't have happened. If he had stayed on task and remembered that he had to pick her up, she wouldn't be laying here. But why was he so distracted ? What had he been doing that time that made me side track so incredibly much ? Who had he been with ..

Out of the blue, a face flash in his mind. He swallowed. Kagome, dear Kagome. She was smiling at him, her hands were behind her back. In her hands, was a pillow. She laughed and winked at him.

He remembered. He had helped her do her chores, and then there was that pillow fight. It was what distracted him from his task. And Kagome was the one who started it all.

Suddenly, all his anger wasn't all directed at him. Deep inside, he knew it was wrong to blame sweet old Kagome, but he couldn't help it. He clenched his fists, and closed his eyes. It's all because of Kagome. She had distracted me, if she wasn't there, I would've been able to pick up Kumiko and that damn car wouldn't have crashed into her. If I hadn't helped her and stayed in my tree, then I would've remembered. It was like a light had finally shone. It was because of Kagome that he had forgotten.

He clenched his fists tighter. He knew what he had to do. Without thinking clearly of what he was going to do, he blurted out the one thing that would change his life forever.

He lifted his eyes,

" That's it. "

A tear rolled down his cheek.

" I can't see Kagome .. anymore. "

-

Dr. Monoko Yuri adjusted her mask as she blinked her eyes groggily. She had been working at this patient for almost longer than she can count but she knew she had to do it. She remembered how the old little lady had gone up to her, cried and begged her to heal her granddaughter. It was as if she was almost begging not just for herself, but for another too. Her heart was given out to the woman, and she promised she would be able to fix the poor teenager lying in front of her.

She had four assistants by her side, and was working quickly. But it was hard. Three of the girl's left rib had broken, and so were two limbs from her left leg. But it wasn't because of that, made it hard. It was because part of the car's fender had hit her spine, and it was damaged real well. And now that she looked closer, it seemed like her ribcage was so swollen that it was practically glowing. That could never be a good sign.

Finally, after a long all night surgery, she peeled off her bloody gloves and sighed. Her assistants filed out of the room, exhausted, but she stayed just to check that the operation went well. She examined the girl carefully, looking at each stitch with detail. The girl was lucky. She thought. If the crack in her spine had been two millimeters deeper than it was, she would've been paralyzed waist down forever.

Satisfied with her work, the doctor adjusted the blanket draped over the girl and prepared to call for someone to take her away. But then something had caught her eye.

Lifting the blanket just slightly, Dr. Yuri peered at her left ribcage. She was sure it was stitched up real good, but for some reason, there was a crack between her wound and the stitch. She frowned and looked closer at it. Then she gasped. Something was inside the teenager, and it wasn't when she got hit by the car. Quickly, the doctor grabbed her tools and unstitched three stitches from her ribcage. Carefully setting her things down, she slowly reached inside the girl. She grunted, and felt her fingers brush over something hard and round. In a very delicate manner, Dr. Yuri managed to grasp what was inside and take it out without harming the girl. She stood up and turned her palm upward, slowly opening her fingers.

She gasped.

" Oh .. my .. god. "

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A/N : Credits to Red-Rain69 for editing this chapter, who has not stopped writin fanfiction no matter what unlike some irresponsible people - sigh - Sorry again -.-