(FIREWORKS)
Shippo: Whoa….exploding colors…
Kirara meows.
Happy Fourth Of July! (waves a flag with a leaf on it) ……oops, wrong flag.
'I don't own InuYasha! There happy? Stupid lawyers…'
InuYasha is still sitting there in the corner. 'Weren't you going to leave? I returned your bow to you!'
He sighed. "Yes and good for you but unfortunately the damned door is locked."
'Oh? I wonder who could've done that…' and hides the key.
"Yes I wonder. When are you going to let me out?"
'That depends, are you busy tonight?'
"I refuse to answer that."
'I'll take that as a 'no' and keep you here for a while longer.'
"Oh and another thing! How dare you kill Kagome in this ridiculous fic!"
'I'm sorry but it was an idea after all. Anyway people seem to like it.'
"Feh. Damned ningens. You all have weird taste in fics."
'Yes well…oh shut up or I will keep you here longer.'
You guys seem to like this fic…Cool!
Ghost Of You
Chapter 5
Tears
This isn't real…
That had to be the fourth time he had told himself that. After gently laying the now dead Kagome on her broken back on the sheets, he leaned back sighing heavily. When Miroku and Sango find out, they would probably blame him for not protecting her. Especially Shippo.
InuYasha rubbed his eyes. After a deadly battle with Sesshomaru this is not what he wanted to come back too. He had promised. I promised damn it! Pounding his fist against the floor, the inuhanyou's ears picked up the familiar voices of the monk and the taijiya.
He got up slowly and walked out of the hut to greet them.
Sango was holding onto Shippo and yelling at Miroku for being such a hentai houshi when she saw the hanyou come out of the hut. "InuYasha! You're back."
All the three of them looked generally happy to see him until they noticed his bowed head and puffy red eyes. "InuYasha?" They all froze.
InuYasha searched the ground as if it had an answer. Finally he looked up to meet everyone's worried faces. "We need to talk." He choked out.
The three looked from each other and back tot heir friend. "About what?" Shippo asked cheerfully clearing the awkward sadness in the air. "Does Kagome know you're back yet?"
InuYasha started to nod but then shook his head. She'll never know…
Sango bit her bottom lip. What happened between those two? She looked on with a look of concern as Shippo babbled about how Kagome should be awake by now.
"I'll go wake her up!" The kitsune jumped from Sango's arms.
InuYasha stamped his foot down in front of Shippo before he could make it in. "Don't go in there." His tone was firm. A little too firm.
Shippo tilted his head as he looked up at InuYasha. "But Kagome would be happy to see you InuYasha. She's been worried sick about you since you took a whole extra day to get back."
InuYasha bit his lip to keep from…what, crying? He wouldn't do that again. Not in front of his friends, not in front of anyone. It had been shock that had triggered the tears earlier. That was all.
He took a deep breath. "Kagomeisdead." It sounded like one word he had said it so fast. No one had caught it. No, someone must have! He couldn't say it again…
"What did you say?" Miroku asked.
Another deep breath. "I said, Kagome is—gone."
Again, they exchanged glances. "Gone?" Sango asked, her patience thinning. "What do you mean gone?"
InuYasha blinked at the ground once. "Kagome…is dead. I found her…and she was dead." He sniffed. But it wasn't because he had smelled something. No…he wasn't going to cry again.
Sango and Miroku both had the same expression written thickly on their faces. Disbelief, shock, sadness…
Unlike Shippo. He laughed. "Yeah right. Kagome isn't dead." He jumped around InuYasha's leg and slipped under the flap of the hut.
InuYasha was looking at the ground pretty hard.
Sango took a step forward. "What…are you saying?" She choked. The hanyou shrugged his shoulders but looked up at her. "I came back. I found Kagome. She was…not breathing." Slowly, the words poured out only to leave a teary-eyed Sango and Miroku…he was studying his shakujou fairly hard.
Sango looked from one of the boys to the other finally letting her sadness turn to rage. "InuYasha!" She balled her fists into his shoulders. It kind of hurt. "You better tell me what the hell is going on! Please tell me you're not serious!"
InuYasha had his head turned away from the angry taijiya. Again he shrugged. Sango wouldn't take that as her answer. "Look at me! Or at least answer me!"
He didn't move.
Sango was about to hit him before Miroku took her shoulder under his palm and dragged her away from the hanyou. "Calm down Sango. Calm—."
Sango twisted away from his grip. "No!"
The flap made a hollow sound as the kitsune exited. Shippo took two tiny steps and plopped down on his tail. Usually that would hurt…but he didn't make a sound. "She's…she-she's…"
The three of them froze as they stared down at the now crying kitsune. "…n-n-not b-bre-breathing." Shippo sniffed and turned his green eyes up at InuYasha. "Y-you said you found her?"
InuYasha nodded.
Shippo wiped his eyes to make room for more tears. "You came back late InuYasha." He got up letting his bangs cover his eyes.
InuYasha felt very uncomfortable. Sango was already mad at him. He knew what was coming from Shippo. The kitsune let out one more body shaking sob before turning his fierce eyes once again on the hanyou. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"
InuYasha nodded to himself. Yep. It's entirely my fault.
"Shippo," the monk said gently. "You need to calm down and—."
"NO I WON'T!" Shippo shrieked back. "It's his fault! And you know it is! Don't stick up for him!"
Again, all eyes were turned on InuYasha. Shippo continued, sobbing. "Why didn't you come back when you promised? Why? If you had come back…" Sob. "If you had come back on time…"
InuYasha finally looked down at him. Shippo growled. "KAGOME WOULDN'T BE DEAD!" He turned on his fox feet and fled out of the village.
Miroku and Sango looked at each other then back at InuYasha. He sighed. "I'll go get the brat." His head bowed, InuYasha slowly walked away from the couple behind him and after Shippo.
Sango lifted the flap and walked in the dark hut. Kagome…or rather her body was laying next to the far left wall in a quiet sleeping position on her back covered in a white sheet.
The taijiya knelt beside her best friend. "Kagome?" she asked hesitantly. When her friend didn't reply, Sango folded her hands in her lap and stared at the small gap at the floor between her knees and Kagome…Kagome's body.
She took a deep and long breath. "I thought you were going to stay here until Miroku, Shippo, and I got back from the woods. So you could be here when InuYasha came back."
Silence.
"You know, even though he took an extra day to come back is no reason for you to go running out in the woods, Kagome-chan."
An even heavier silence fell over the hut. Sango continued her conversation with…well, no one really. "I know you can take care of your self but sometimes when you're so worked up about us…"
She took a shaky breath that triggered tears from her eyes and trailed down her cheeks. "You forget about yourself and your needs." She sobbed a couple times before continuing once more. "And that's what made you so great. You were everything but self-centered so…"
She clapped her hands together and gazed around the room awkwardly biting her lower lip. "I didn't even tell you good-bye. So…good bye Kagome-chan, my best friend…"
Sango, the great demon slayer, crying her eyes out took one of her shaking hands and lightly gripped Kagome's still shoulder. "My sister I'll never have…and never will again."
Sango bowed her head and let the tears flow freely down her cheeks. What she didn't know was that a small white butterfly floated around in the corner.
Kur0: Yes this is a very sad chapter I know. I was crying while I read it. Sorry for the long updating thing…I was camping uggg…and who watched Saturday's InuYasha episode? And who cried? I know I did…(sniff) so you all seem to like this very much and I will answer all your reviews next chapter. Arigatou everyone.
Oh and for those of you who don't know…shakujou is Japanese for Miroku's staff. And for those of you who did know…good job!