How long had she been gone? Six days, Inuyasha counted. Six numb, lonely, painful days. In the beginning he had been angry. By the second day he was barely irritated, and by the third he was worried sick. What if something had happened to her? He had been sure she would come back after a day or so. She had gone to reassure her mother and that Souta kid that she was okay. It was only to be expected that she would want to visit with them a while, but...six days? What if she was so sick she couldn't move? Kaede had said that would probably happen a few times in the months to come.

At first he had been too irritated, too stubborn to go. Now he was trying to do the right thing. He didn't want to rush Kagome—she'd done so much already, she was surely entitled to a rest at home with her family. In the end, though, his concern won out, and he decided that if she wasn't back by sun down he would go to see what was up. Not necessarily make her come back, but just check in, make sure everything was okay.

He felt so feeble and tame all of the sudden. All the control, the attitude he had worked his entire life for had slipped through his fingers sometime in this affair, and he didn't like the feeling at all. To think, all these emotions, all this turmoil was over one pathetic, weak, stupid human.

Inuyasha sighed in abandon, leaning against the firm trunk of the God Tree. Sunset could not come soon enough.

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Kagome stared numbly at the door that had been closed and locked since the previous afternoon. The door knob had not turned once. Her mother had knocked on the door with meals a few times, and Souta had even come by, but she had ignored them, pretending to be asleep. She knew it was selfish. They were upset, too. But her mind was much too numb to be thinking rationally, and she was far from being her normal docile self.

Gramps...she couldn't believe it. Her mother had met them both in the kitchen early, on the fifth day of Kagome's return. They'd monitored her grandfather's condition since the day of her return. He had seemed stable at first, with a good chance of a full recovery, and then... it had ended. Heart failure, her mother had murmured in a voice of forced calm. It was sudden...there was nothing anyone could do. His heart had just...stopped.

Limbo had been pitch black, but those last few days had seemed just as dark.

She was dressed in pajamas. She hadn't bothered to change or brush her hair or even take a bath since the news. In fact, she didn't do much. She had lain there limply on her bed, staring at the ceiling, at the walls, at the carpet, at the locked window across the room. Her body told her she was tired and hungry, but she refused to feel anything. Sleeping would bring dreams, and she wasn't ready to dream. Her apatite had disappeared, and the thought of food alone was enough to make her feel nauseous. So she ignored everything.

It was so hard to believe. The irony was potent enough to burn her at twenty paces. She had gone through hell to be able to go on living—faced limbo, faced monsters, faced unbelievable odds, and succeeded, only to lose someone else to death. Were the gods laughing? She felt like a character in some stupid angst novel. The next step, of course, would be suicide.

But she wouldn't do that. At the moment, she wasn't even planning to move.

Idly, Kagome ran her fingers over the fuzzy teddy bear Hojo had given her the last time she had gone to school. It was a brown, goofy looking creature with big black eyes and a stupid smile, and sewn on its belly in blue thread were the words 'You're Beary Special! Get Well Soon!' She picked at its fur, and eventually turned it over, unable to look at the haunting grin any longer. With a sudden surge of energy, she pitched the thing across the room, and it made a soft THUD as it bounced off the wall.

The small movement was exhausting. Kagome didn't want to move. She lay back on the bed and stared at the white ceiling above. Whiteness, nothingness surrounded her and suddenly she was floating, carried by nothing in particular but her own imagination. She saw Tsuki smiling sadly at her, and then her brother, and then Inuyasha, looking worried. He stared at her and mouthed something anxiously, his hand at his side clenching and unclenching.

Kagome clenched her own fist, and felt the soft fabric of her sheets intertwined in her fingers. And then the white was gone, and she was on her back on the bed again, staring at the ceiling that had always been there. Her head was hurting, and she was annoyed with the pain, but did nothing about it. What was there to do anyway? A glass of water might help, she thought, but she had no intention of going downstairs. She didn't want to talk to her mother at the moment—a kind word would be enough to make her cry again, and her mother was full of them. No, she would just simply deal with it.

She guessed by the light filtering through her window that it was nearing sunset, or was at least early afternoon. Fading shadows crept across the fluffy white carpet, stretching their dark fingers towards her menacingly, tickling the legs of her chair as they passed. A rather strong breeze was making the trees wave—the swish of leaves and branches was the only sound audible, besides the bedside clock's ticking. The tree just outside the window was tapping on the glass like an impatient friend, demanding entrance. Birds were singing. Kagome breathed and flopped over, lying on her stomach and allowing her arms to hand limply. She played with the carpet a little, weaving her fingers amongst the stuff. It was course, and rough, but she preferred it to the sheets she hadn't left—hadn't the power to leave.

Kagome choked lightly and straightened up again, lying against the wall. (It was harder to breathe hanging upside down like that.) She glanced furiously at the mirror across the room on her dresser, and saw herself, balled into a pathetic fetal position, looking lifeless and tired and pathetic...and felt the most extraordinary urge to shatter the glass forever. But her arms were too tired, and her muscles were too sore, and she didn't have the will to get up. Instead, she turned her back on it disgustedly, and stared at the wall until the whiteness engulfed her.

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Against the pink-purple expanse, the sun set, and another day ended gracefully. A lovely blue color began to splash across the sky like paint on a canvas, and a few twinkling stars scattered themselves, blinking merrily down upon the forest blow. Inuyasha grimaced, and jumped down from the tree, making his way to the well. He had tried, hadn't he? He had tried to be patient and wait, but she had been gone long enough. It was time to see what in Kami's name had happened to her.

He leapt through the well.

On the other side, it took but a quick jump to remove himself from the old well, and a few shorter ones to leave the well house. He darted across the courtyard, a red blur, as if he were dodging demon attacks and leapt up into the tree by Kagome's window. It was closed, and the curtains were pulled close. That was a definite bad sign. They were always open. He reached over to the handle, to pull the window open.

It wouldn't budge.

Inuyasha blinked incredulously. The window was locked! Never, not once since she'd met him had Kagome locked her bedroom window. She knew he preferred it to doors (and being mauled by Souta) so it was always open in welcome. Inuyasha's ears twitched, listening for any sound. There was the clamor of pans in the kitchen, but that was it.

That's it. He was definitely going in now. He could break the glass—it would be a single punch—but he knew Kagome would be angry, and he didn't feel like being sat at the moment. He resolved, instead, to go down to the stoop and enter through the door like normal people. That was something he hadn't done in a while. He'd always used the window. He sighed, and dropped down onto the doorstep, and knocked hesitantly on the door. There was a scurrying inside, and footsteps. The door swung open, and Souta peeked up at him.

Inuyasha almost flinched out of habit, expecting to be tackled around the middle as usual, but that didn't happen. Souta looked up at him with solemn dark eyes that reminded him of his sister's, and slowly opened the door for him. "Hi, Nii-chan," he muttered hoarsely, his voice thick. He'd been crying. Inuyasha's heart pounded his ribs painfully.

He knelt quickly by the child's side and took him by the small shoulders. "Souta," he said urgently, looking directly into the solemn eyes, searching for the truth he didn't want to see. "What's wrong? What—what happened?" Souta stared back at him blankly, and then, as though he'd suddenly woken up, his eyes glistened with tears and he flung himself at his idol. Inuyasha staggered and nearly fell, only managing to keep his balance while his best friend's little brother sobbed into his collar. He'd never really been the best comforter in the world, but he tried, patting his head awkwardly. "Souta," he said when he took a moment to breathe, "please tell me what's wrong."

"It's jii-chan," the boy whimpered, and Inuyasha's face contorted into disbelief.

"What?"

"Jii-chan," Souta repeated. "Jii-chan is—is—"

"Spit it out," Inuyasha said with a hint of impatience, and Souta choked back another sob.

"He's gone, Nii-chan. He's...he's dead."

Inuyasha understood. He sat there, stone still for a moment, before pulling back and looking into the younger boy's flushed face. "Your sister," he said quietly. "Where is she?"

"In her room," Souta sniffled. "She's been in there since yesterday when—when momma told us." So THAT had been why the window was closed...Inuyasha firmly forbid his face to show any relief, afraid that Souta might take it the wrong way. He offered a weak smile and stood up.

"The door's locked, isn't it."

"Yes...."

"Do you know where the key is?" Inuyasha asked carefully, and Souta looked hopeful.

"Yeah...I'll go ask mom for it." He rushed into the kitchen. Inuyasha could hear the two voices for a moment, and then the dishes stopped clinking and Souta came back with his mother at his heels.

"Oh, Inuyasha dear," she said with a tired smile. "How nice of you to come visit Kagome." She removed from her pocket a small silvery key, and handed it over. Inuyasha closed his fingers around the cold metal, feeling its metallic weight against his palm strangely comforting. "It...it's good that you've come," Mrs. H. said falteringly, and she looked away. "Kagome...hasn't eaten anything in almost two days...and she won't let us in. I don't want to push her, but...it might be good for her to have some company." She smiled, and turned back towards the kitchen, saying, "Dinner's almost ready. If you want, I'll bring some for the two of you in a while."

"Thanks," Inuyasha said awkwardly, feeling oddly at home. What a weird feeling.

"You're welcome," Mrs. Higarashi said. "Oh, and Inuyasha..."

"Yeah?"

She turned back with the tiniest of sad smiles. "Please be gentle. She's hurting so badly."

Inuyasha nodded and was gone down the dim hallway.

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Tailz: Awww...Please don't hate me, Minna-chan....I'm sorry, angst is my style... ::Grovels pitifully at the readers' feet:: I promise, I'll make up for it later with lots and lots and lots and lots of pretty fluffiness...but poor Kagome-chan is going to have a rough time for a while... :'( Review, please! I'll update soon!