Summary: Kagome used to be the popular and happy girl in school. Everyone loved her, until summer break. Now, returning to high school, no one regognizes her. Will someone be able to find out why she's vanished? Inuyasha's POV.

Rated M for the following: Cutting, mention of suicide, adult situations (Miroku's fault this had to be put in), and foul language... If these bother you, then suck it up and read, or leave.

Heart of Pain
Chapter Seven: Stalker

"It's not your business! You didn't know her and you couldn't have cared for her! Leave us alone!" She snaps. I walk away, glancing back once. She knows that I didn't know Kagome very well, which means she had to have been paying attention. Maybe she can help me figure out what happened...

- - -

Alright, I know that girl who yelled at me. She's the one who answered when the teacher wanted to talk to the girl in the halls. On the first day of school. I thought the teacher called her Kagome, but I was wrong. Her name just resembles Kagome's name and I heard wrong.

Kind of strange for my demon hearing to get something wrong. I guess I shouldn't think of it too much. Back to what I was going to say. The girl is one of those emo kids. She goes to the bathroom and comes back with the scent of blood on her. I don't know what's going on with her during class - since she's always on the other side of the classroom - but I feel like someone's picking on her.

So, how to find out if someone's hurting her? I've started following her. I know what car is hers, but no way in hell am I following her home. That kind of stalking can get me in jail. I mean, I know I should get in trouble for following her like how I do now, but I have good reasoning behind it.

I told Sango and Miroku about my "plan." I'll follow this girl and figure out what's bothering her. If I can help her, then she'll be grateful and tell me some things about Kagome. Miroku thinks the idea will work, but Sango says otherwise. She thinks it'll backfire, or the girl won't be happy that I'm interefering with her life.

Hey, I'm not interfering, I'm assisting. I'm assisting her in a stalker-sort of manner, that's all. I have no intentions of hurting her, since she is a human. I'll get in a lot of trouble for assaulting a human on school. I have demon powers and that can seriously hurt her.

But I don't intend to hurt her. I don't like the idea of hurting girls at all, but sometimes I do it. Sophmore year, I hit Kikyou. I couldn't hold my temper and hit her, but my claws didn't touch her skin. She was trying to apologize to me for cheating and all that. I was tired of hearing her excuses and lost control for a moment.

Thankfully, it was just that moment. If I'd lost it any longer, I'd have gone into a blood-thirsty demon. That would've gotten me in a lot of trouble with the law and with myself. I can't stand the idea that I hit her (even though she did deserve it) and I don't want the idea of killing her to come across me.

Even though it would have made her leave me alone a lot faster. But that's besides the point.

This girl, I don't know her name yet, but she's kind of nice. I don't see her do it that often, but she'll give the freshmen some food if they don't have the money for lunch. Sure, she'll probably be starving, but she does it all the time. If she's buying lunch, she'll give them her lunch money and just take a soda from her friend.

It's amazing just tothink that one of those emo kids could be nice to anyone. Especially the freshmen. I guess she isn't all emo yet. I mean, the full-emo kids don't smile or talk to any other cheerful life. They only speak to other emo. I've seen her talk to some of the popular girls every now and then. Mainly the ones like Kikyou.

And Kikyou never looks happy whenever she gets a visit from this girl. Makes me want to laugh, but I know better than to do it. No one but my friends is even aware that I'm following her. I'd prefer to keep it that way.

But, I tell you, two months of following her is starting to get irritating. She does the same things and I haven't seen anyone picking on her yet.

I look down at my soda, wishing that it was open. We're both in the front of the school, but she's on the ground. I'm in a tree and dying to open this soda. If I do, she'll hear it. It's that quiet out here. I notice someone come out of the building and walk to another tree. He sits down under it, but I can tell he's watching her.

I don't know his name, but he's been following her too. Perhaps he's trying to get informatin about Kagome, or maybe he's just a plain stalker. I can't hate him for following her, since I'm doing the same thing. But, if I can't hate him, I can use him.

I open my soda can, and it makes a loud crack. The girl first looks to my tree, then the one past mine, where the other boy is. She returns to doodling on her white piece of paper. She's sitting on the steps, seeming completely bored. But, hey, what do I know? I'm not close enough to her to tell. When she goes in, the other boy does too.

He's definitely stalking her. I don't think his intentions are good, either. I'm just judging about his scent. He smells like revenge and rage, never a good combination when you're stalking someone. I follow a bit further behind, noting that he leaves once she passes some authority figures. He comes back when she's in the crowd during lunch and away from someone who could get him in trouble. I take note of this then go to Sango and Miroku.

"You're here!" Sango says. I nod then look down at my soda. I take a sip before I rest my head on the table.

"Someone else is following her. He's stalking her." I tell them.

"And you're not?" Miroku questions.

"He smells like revenge and rage. Smelling like that when he's obviously following someone is a bad combination." I say. Sango's eyebrows raise in question before she takes a bite of her food.

"So, you think he's going to hurt her?" She asks me. I nod then steal one of her fries.

"Hey!" She snaps.

"I haven't had anything but a can of soda for lunch for two months strait. I have earned the right to have fries!" I snap. She gives me the remaining amount and I sigh.

"Thank you..." I say gratefully.

"Don't mention it." She replies boredly.

"You sound as if you're going through pre-military training." Miroku says. I look at him as he eats his food.

"Call it that. I'm stalking a target to make sure she gets everywhere safely. Any interferance is out of the question." I say, acting as if it's really a secret mission.

"So, you like her?" Sango asks. I look at her, a fry half-way in my mouth.

"I don't. I'm just saying that if he picks on her, then I'm going to hurt him." I reply.

"You're protective over her. You like her." Miroku says. I slam my fist against the table, but not hard enough to scare them.

"Damn it! I don't like her! She's upset enough as it is, and if he hurts her, I have an obligation to protect her!" I snap. I grab the last few french fries then leave the table, wondering if they're right.

Okay, let's get this strait. I haven't fallen in love with an emo kid. I still like Kagome, even though I'm not telling everyone that. I'm protecting the emo kid just so she can tell me more about Kagome and what happened over summer. That's all. Why can't they believe that?

Why can't I believe that?

Next time on Heart of Pain...
Inuyasha catches the other man trying to hurt this girl. She was upset enough as it was, so instict told him to protect her. But, why does she flinch each time he touches her? And why won't she look him in the eye?

kirara242- (AKA: Tom) Thanks for telling me that you're a girl. I would've thought you were a boy this whole time! But I do appreciate your reviews!

djl- Ooh. No, it's not Kouga. If I hadn't finished typing that chapter already (I'm working on chapter 12 out of 16), then I'd have Kouga be the stalker. But that's a very good guess!

Some Girl- Don't be afraid to put your username or whatnot in here! Anyway, I'll tell you what Emo is...

Emo is the term bestowed on the extremely depressed. Some people (like me), cut themselves when they're upset. They can use a knife, razors, scissors, or anything else that's sharp enough to their personal liking (I use a knife). So, emo is the term given to those who cut themselves to deal with their depression. That make sense to everyone? It's a common term in my high school now (which bothers me a lot).

I need 70 reviews before anyone can get the next chapter...

- Lonely Bird