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.

Ha ha, this is funny. Well, FanFiction is working again, so that means I should be able to update normally (as long as it keeps working). Wait, that's not the funny thing.

Chapter 13 is "Gone". Chapter 14 is "Visitation". I am a blonde. I combined both of them into being chapter 13, so now there's one less chapter. There's 17 chapters, rather than 18. I thought there were 16, but my memory failed me. There are now 17 chapters.

Oh, before I forget. Ya'll need to update MUCH faster. I have chapter 14 finished and you barely even have chapter 9 posted! You can review twice, for all I care, but you do have to review at least once if you really want the next chapter. Sorry for the long pre-chapter note. I just had to say these things.

Heart of Pain
Chapter Nine: Warmth

Maybe I'm not physically harming her, though. Perhaps me being around and prying into her life is hurting her heart. Those emo kids always seem upset, and maybe what I'm doing only increases it. I'll have to ask Sango about the way this girl's mind may be working. She always seems to understand how girls think, amazingly enough.

But, am I really hurting Kay's heart by following her? I'm only trying to help...

- - -

"Kay, wait up!" I call through the halls. She's hard to keep up with, if you're distracted. I think it's because she tries to run from things when they bother her. When she finally reaches the front of our school, she sits down on the steps. I sit down next to her and sigh.

"Did I wear you out?" She asks. I smile then sit down next to her.

"I guess you did. It's hard to keep up with you and think at the same time." I tell her. She shakes her head, and I notice something for the first time. She'll never look at me in the eyes. I hadn't realized that before. She avoids any and all eye contact. She's always looking down to hide her face.

"Why do you hide your face from everyone?" I ask. She probably would have glared at me, if I hadn't been looking. She would have, if there was the chance that she could keep her face hidden at the same time.

"Why do you insist on learning about Kagome's summer?" She retorts. Okay, I guess I do need to answer that question. It's only fair... I think.

"I used to like Kagome a lot. I was going to tell her before the summer vacation, but I never got the courage to do it..." I say. She lets out a small laugh.

"You liked her, just like every other boy in this school. Every guy looked at her like she was a piece of meat. I can't imagine how uncomfortable that'd make her feel." She replies. I mentally sigh. There's no way to get this girl to understand, is there?

"I didn't look at her for her body. The first thing that got my attention was how smart she was. The reason I didn't say anything the rest of the year is because I knew that Kagome would assume that I was after her body. I was trying to figure out a way to make her believe that I liked her, not her looks." I say. I can't believe I'm telling an emo kid this.

"You should've said something before she died, then." She replies. This girl has an unhealthy obsession with the subject of death.

"She didn't die. I know she didn't, because every now and then, I can pick up traces of her scent around school." I tell Kay. She laughs a bit again before she begins drawing in her sketchbook. Wait, where's her lunch? Doesn't she ever have any lunch?

"You could be hallucenating." She tells me.

"I could be, but I'm not. Other demons can smell it too." I say. She stops drawing for a few seconds before she starts up again.

"Why do you want to know about her?" She asks.

"I want to know what bothered her. Something happened over summer vacation and she hasn't come back to school since. I'm worried that she's being hurt at home." I say. Kay drops her pencil then I reach out for it. I guess she momentarily forgets her face-hiding habit, and she looks at me.

I stare at her for a while, my heart skipping every other beat. I hand her the pencil, then stare at my unopened soda can.

"You changed." I comment.

"Pardon?" She asks. Funny how she still acts so polite, isn't it?

"Your entire look changed, Kagome." I tell her. She looks at me with wide eyes, and there are tears in them too. I hug her, but I can tell she doesn't like the touch.

"Why were you asking about me? You don't know me." She says bittlerly. I think she's trying to remain level-headed about what I've told her. Either that or she's afraid of letting her hopes get up.

"You're right. I don't know you, but what I do know about you is what I like. The rest of you can't be all too bad." I reply. Kagome shakes her head, before relaxing against me. At least she's not afraid of my touch anymore.

"It is. I'm so messed up." She says. This reminds me of the question I want answered.

"What happened over summer?" I ask her. She looks away, her eyes narrowing. She doesn't want to talk about it, and I'm not about to force her.

"You shouldn't ask things like that. Someone will get hurt..." She tells me. I can't tell if it's a threat against me or a threat that was against her. Either way, I take the hint and back off.

"Hey, what's that smell?" I ask her suddenly. She looks at me as if I'm crazy. I know I'm smelling something, but I can't place my finger on it.

"What smell?" She asks. Then it hits me.

"Smells like blood..." I comment. She freezes then stands up.

"It's nothing." She says dully. I'm afraid, though. She may thinks it's nothing, but it's something to me.

"You cut yourself..." I say quietly.

"So?" She retorts.

"Promise me that you won't do it." I demand.

"I hardly even know you." She says.

"You know my name and I didn't tell you what it was. Now, tell me you won't do it." I demand. She hesitates, and I'm afraid she'll say no.

"Fine. I won't hurt myself anymore." She says. I smile then hug her.

"Thank you." I say quietly. I kiss her forehead protectively then take her back to the lunch area.

"I'm going with my group." She tells me. I watch her go to her emo friends and discuss something. I go over to Sango and Miroku, a smile plastered against my face.

"What happened to you?" Sango asks me. I look at her, wondering if I should tell her or not.

"Did you see Kagome?" Miroku questions. I nod my head then rest it against the table.

"Wow. Guess good things came from stalking emo kids." Sango remarks. I glare at her, and she doesn't know why.

"Don't refer to them as emo." I say sharply. She looks down at her food, eating in silence. It's not that I' really mad at her, but I don't want people calling them emo anymore. I'll have to get out of the habit, but I'm going to do it. Knowing that Kagome falls in a group we tease, I don't want to tease them.

"Hey, I'm going to talk to someone. I'll be right back." I tell them. Miroku nods, and Sango shrugs. She must still be nervous about my outburst about her nickname for the emo kids. Damn, I'm doing it too! I walk over to Kagome while she leaves the rest of her friends.

"Are we friends?" I question cautiously.

"Yes. If you promise that you'll stand up for me like you did earlier, then I can be your friend." She says. I doubt she wants to say anything about dating me when she's feeling so depressed she hurts herself.

"I'll always stand up for you." I tell her. I mean, why wouldn't I? I told her that I used to like her, and I still do. Well, she doesn't know that I still do, but that's not the points.

But I don't understand how she can think I would let her down. She knows that I'm worried about her. Maybe... Maybe someone hurt her enough for her not to trust anyone again. It'd have to be someone close to her if she became afraid of everyone. It couldn't be her brother. From what I know, they're close. Maybe... Maybe it wasn't done to her, but she experienced something that she didn't want to experience.

But, what happened and why won't she tell me?

Next time on Heart of Pain...
Inuyasha stands next to his friends while they tease the new emo kid. What they don't know is that the emo kid is Inuyasha's new friend. What will happen if she finds out that Inuyasha didn't stand up for her? After all, he promised he would...

I need 90 reviews before anyone can get the next chapter...

- Lonely Bird