Author's Note: Wow, this chapter took a looong time to write. I hit a bit of a block with this one; it was hard to write my fanfic when my thoughts were filled with evil math teachers and way too many assignments for anybody's good health.

Hope the next one comes out quicker; you can make it happen with all your reviews!

Speaking of which, you guys are AWESOME. Way more reviews then I could even have hoped for! Keep them coming; maybe the next chapter'll get done faster.

Chapter 16: Him

There were lights flashing, people moving, shadows twisting and transforming, shouts cutting through the air, people sitting, people screaming; it all happened in such a rush, and it was all one big blur of chaos.

He was going away; she could see him moving away, silver hair flashing in the light, looking back at her; and then more movement. In an impossibly short amount of time, he was gone.

Sango and Miroku looked down at her, confused, worried, shocked; the shadows made it difficult to see, the people were moving too fast, there was too much chaos - and then she saw nothing, heard nothing save someone whispering her name; and then everything was gone as she faded away into the blissful calm of unconsciousness.

"Kagome! Kagome, come on!" Sango exclaimed, leaning over her friend. Kagome had fainted, and Miroku looked as if he might meet the same fate as well.

Everybody in the basement was panicking. There was chaos everywhere as people stood, shouting things intelligibly, running up stairwells in an effort to get away from the place where Kouga had effectively held them all at gunpoint.

Kikyou and Rhia were standing off in their corner. Rhia looked as if she was going to cry, and Kikyou had a shocked expression on her face. Many of the girls that passed her had slapped her hard on the face; it was common knowledge, now, that she had asked a madman to come to their school, and they hated her for it. Kikyou looked at the people rushing past her, wide-eyed as she watched her popularity drain away as quickly as water being held in human hands.

Eventually the basement had been evacuated, leaving only Sango, Miroku, the unconscious Kagome, and Kikyou. Rhia had long since left Kikyou behind, running away with one last glance in her direction, wondering how she could have ever been close to such a monster.

Kikyou was shaking as she walked over to Sango and Miroku, who were still leaning over Kagome, trying to wake her up. Sango saw her coming and glared at her.

"Get out of here before I kill you," she said, a genuine threat. Kikyou didn't move.

"I j-j-just wanted to say s-s-sorry," she stammered, looking warily from Sango to Miroku and back. "It w-w-wasn't supposed to h-h-happen like that."

"Get out of here," Sango repeated, her voice a half-snarl. Kikyou nodded and left, going up the same stairs that everybody else had, leaving the three friends alone.

"Come on, Kagome, wake up," Miroku said, his voice pressing. Kagome stirred, her hands coming up to rub her eyes. She opened them.

"I...I can't see," she said quietly, her voice hoarse. Miroku raised an eyebrow, but Sango ignored the girl's comment and immediately wrapped her in a back-breaking hug.

"Kagome!" she exclaimed. "Oh, thank goodness, I was so worried!"

Kagome seemed kind of numb. "I could see," she said, still quietly. -Now- Sango seemed to register what was going on. She held Kagome an arm's length away from her.

"You could see?" Sango asked. Kagome nodded slowly.

"I saw the whole thing," she said, her voice breaking. Tears came to her eyes. "He's gone, isn't he?"

Sango and Miroku were silent; their lack of response told Kagome their answer. Salty tears ran down her face and landed on the ground as she stood and broke away from Sango and Miroku, walking up the stairs on her own.

Sango and Miroku looked at each other, each of them feeling worried about Inuyasha, but knowing that what Kagome was feeling must be a thousand times worse.

"How are we going to find him?" Kagome asked. She had somewhat recovered from the initial shock of the whole evening's events, and was currently sitting in front of her locker with Sango and Miroku in front of her.

"I don't know," Sango admitted, leaning against Miroku for a little bit of support.

"Well, one step would be to go outside and -look-, but in all likelihood that wouldn't get us anywhere," Miroku suggested.

"Does Inuyasha have any relatives; like, family, whatever?" Kagome asked. "They might be able to give us some kind of a hint."

"All of his direct family is dead, from the rumours I've heard," Miroku replied. "Apparently he lives with a foster family, and I doubt that they'd be able to give us any actual clues."

"It's still a place to start," Sango countered, "and it's certainly better than just sitting here talking about it. Now, do you know where he lives?"

"Yeah; it's actually not too far from here," Miroku answered. "We could probably walk there."

"I need to phone my mother and tell her what's going on," Kagome said, digging through her pocket for her cell phone. "Sango, Miroku, you might want to do the same."

"True," Sango muttered. Her and Miroku began fumbling for their own phones, and the three friends ignored each other for a few moments as they immersed themselves in their conversations with their parents. The talks required all their attention; they had to keep their parents calm, explain the situation, and convince them that talking to Inuyasha's foster parents was the best course of action.

Needless to say, it was difficult; but in the end the three of them pressed the 'end' button and looked up at each other with weary looks in their eyes.

"I can do it," Sango said.

"Me, too," Miroku and Kagome chorused. "But I need to phone them every five minutes," Kagome added.

"Yeah, I need to do that as well," Sango agreed. "Ah, well."

"Can we please not waste any more time?" Miroku asked, sighing. "I hate to think of what's happening to him."

"Alright, let's get going!"

It was a cold night. There were no clouds in the sky, and the streetlights were dim, so thousands of pinpoints of light guided the three friends on their way. There was a crescent moon; it seemed to follow them ominously as they went on their way, making sure to look in all directions at once for a telltale flash of silver hair and amber eyes. There was a chill breeze; it made the three of them shiver as they walked along, searching. There were few sounds aside from the occasional rustle of a newspaper skittering across the street; no birds, no animals whatsoever.

All in all, it was a mysterious and foreboding evening.

They refrained from actually calling out "Inuyasha!" wherever they went, as they were a little nervous to be out on their own so late at night; they wouldn't want to alert any of the less desirable passersby to their presence.

After a bit of time had passed, they found themselves turning onto a distinctly residential road; there were cozy-looking houses with bright lights in front of them and neatly-trimmed gardens. Every so often they'd pass a "Beware of Dog" sign, and would have to suppress a sigh or a tear because it reminded them so much of Inuyasha.

They walked for a little while before Miroku put out a hand, signaling for them to stop. They were standing in front of a particularly normal-looking house; there was a garden, a clean-cut lawn, the customary lights in front, and a garage. The lights were on inside the house; Sango and Miroku could see shadowed figures moving behind the yellow curtains.

"This is it," Miroku said, waving a hand in the direction of the building. "His house."

"Should we knock on the door?" Sango asked, fidgeting.

"That would make sense," Miroku answered, gulping. "I don't know. They might be able to help us or something."

"Come on, let's just go in," Kagome said, her tone of voice indicating that she was tired of just standing around. She took Sango by the hand and led her towards the doorway.

A flash of sight hit her; she saw the yellow tinged curtains, the walls of the house, the door growing larger as she walked up to it. The earth bobbed up and down as she walked; a strange sensation indeed, but right now, it was insignificant. She needed to find Inuyasha; she needed to talk to his family.

She barely took any notice when the colours gave way to the infinite blackness that she had grown so accustomed to over the years.

Miroku followed the two girls, slightly amazed at the sudden change in Kagome. Now -she- was the one leading Sango around, taking charge. It was slightly funny, this reversal of roles.

They reached the welcoming doorway and paused in front of it. Kagome turned to Sango. "Well, are you going to knock?"

Sango grunted in reply and raised her fist to the door, pounding on it three times, forgetting about the existence of a doorbell. The three friends could hear shuffling footsteps from within the building, and the curtained windows on either side of the door were darkened by a shadowed figure pausing in front of the door.

Then the wooden portal opened, and they found themselves standing in front of a tired-looking woman with long, straight brown hair and a plain but pretty look to her. Her face was lined with worry and when she saw the three teenagers in her doorway, her hand flew to her mouth.

"Is this about Inu?" she asked, her voice quiet and hoarse. She had probably been crying.

"Ummm...yes," Miroku said awkwardly, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "Umm...we were...yeah..."

Sango rolled her eyes. "We were wondering if we could ask you just a few questions. You probably would like to sit down."

"Yes, of course; come right in," the woman said, opening the door for Kagome. When the blind girl just stood there, Inuyasha's foster mother blinked. "My dear, you can come in."

"Oh, you're standing aside now?" Kagome asked, ever oblivious. "Sorry." She took a step forwards, guided from behind by Sango, who had a hand on her back. Inuyasha's foster mother looked confused. "I'm blind," Kagome said simply. Again, a hand went to the woman's mouth.

"Oh, dear, I'm so sorry," she apologized. Kagome grinned.

"Don't worry about it. Right now, we just need to worry about Inu."

"Yes, of course."

When the three teenagers had been settled on the couch and the woman as well as the man who must have been Inuyasha's foster father were sitting opposite them, Sango cleared her throat.

"Now, I'm not sure whether or not you two know exactly what happened tonight," she began. "In fact, even -we're- not entirely sure what happened. But the basics are, Inuyasha was kidnapped by a boy named Kouga."

"Kouga," the foster father repeated, as if memorizing the name.

"We were wondering if you know anything - anything at all that could help us find out where he is, where Kouga would have taken him," Sango continued. "Even something as small as a favourite place, or some secluded park, or...you know, anything."

The woman sighed, her eyes heavy with grief. "Well, there is one park pretty close to here," she said, placing her head in her hands. "It's the only one for quite some distance. If he was in a park, that would be it."

"He likes the park, too," Inu's foster father said. "He went there often when he had spare time. It might be...it might be a good place to start."

"Thank you very much, sir," Miroku said, some of his customary grace returned to him. "We'll go look there first, and then come back after we're done. We'll tell you if we've found anything."

"You mean to say you don't think we'll come with you?" the woman exclaimed. "We want to help as well! He's...he's like our son!"

Kagome smiled. "Of course," she said. "We wouldn't deny you the chance to help us look for him."

Not long after that, the group of five were assembled outside the open gate to the park. It was probably a cheery place by daylight; one could easily imagine children running around the brightly-coloured climbing apparatus. There were many trees around which people probably went if they wanted some quiet, or some time to think. There was a large field with picnic benches scattered around it, and an area that looked something like a wading pool.

In the daylight, it was probably a lot of fun. At nighttime, it was just plain creepy.

"Do you think he'll be here?" Miroku asked, looking around. The moon seemed to be abnormally bright, and it combined with the starlight cast long, mysterious shadows across the grass.

"We should split up and cover more ground," Inuyasha's foster father - whose name, they had learned, was Nik - said. Inuyasha's foster mother (Mara) nodded her head.

"Why not...why not Nik and I go together this way, and you three go the other way?" she suggested.

"I think someone should stay with you two," Kagome said. "Just in case...you know, something happens."

"I'll go," Miroku offered. "You and Sango will be fine on your own. She can take out anyone," he added playfully, elbowing her in the ribs. A sharp slap on the face told him that this was not the time for playing around.

"It's settled then," Sango said, a final tone in her voice. "Come on, Kagome. Let's go."

And with that, the two groups split away from each other, going in opposite directions in order to find Inuyasha and get him back.

"You doing okay, Kagome?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sure? I mean, like, you and Inuyasha were-"

"I'm fine, Sango."

"Let's just keep looking then."

"Yes, let's."

This conversation came up a number of times. Sango just didn't understand how Kagome could look so calm through all of this. I mean, sure, all of this had to be done, and Kagome certainly couldn't do anything more - but usually, they would -want- to, even if they couldn't.

Sango had a pressing suspicion that Kagome was keeping a lot of her emotions bottled up. She shook her head, sighing - Kagome might not even have admitted to herself that she loved Inyuasha. Sango could see it happening - a different light in her eyes whenever she saw him approach, a different way of smiling at him than at her or Miroku. And Inuyasha, too, was different; but yet again, Sango doubted he could admit his emotions to himself.

"You doing okay, Kagome/"

"Yes."

This time, Sango didn't even bother to try and continue the conversation. The two of them walked in silence.

So when Sango felt a cold hand close over her mouth and consciousness slip away from her, the sudden lack of noise from her end went comepletely unnoticed by Kagome, who just walked on as normal, leaving a silently fallen Sango behind.

A minute later, she realized that Sango's footsteps weren't following her as they should have been. She turned around, put a hand out to try and feel anything weird.

"Sango?" she asked hesitantly, her voice shaking somewhat. "Sango, are you there?"

The same cold hand closed over her own mouth and she fell into the same unconsciousness that Sango had, leaving Miroku, Mara and Nik on their own.

Everything was blurry. Everything was dark, shadowed; nothing was for certain.

It felt like she was in some kind of room - the walls were grayish, but that might just have been the shadows. There were a few chairs, something that looked like a bed. A shelf with some books on it. Someone might have lived here.

There was someone else in the room, she could feel it; and turning around, she could see him. Taller than her, silver hair, golden eyes -

Again, unconsciousness took her, but not so quickly that she didn't feel strong arms around her, protecting her from the fall.

"Kagome?"

Author's Note: Okay, I had to end it here for lack of time. I took a looooong time to update, I know, and I'm sorry, but this is kind of how it's going to have to be. School is horribly busy (my math teacher gives us so much homework, he's like Satan reincarnated) but I try to write when I can.

In the meantime, your reviews are what's keeping me going, so keep them coming! You guys are so awesome. :P