1Hey guys! What is crakin? NMH. Just studying my brains out for the final exams. Yay...NOT! Okay, well Things might slow down for a bit, but I'll try to keep up the pace. It is so hard to write 5 stories at the same time! I might stop one or two so I can finish up some fo them and take a break. Have to see about that. Well, on to the story I guess!

Chapter 23: Reunited and A Silent Goodbye

Kagome's sense came back to her slowly, but she kept her eyes closed. The first thing she noticed was a clawed hand in hers and a warm body close to her. She tried to remember everything from last night, but all she remembered was kissing Inuyasha and passing out.

She opened her eyes carefully, not wanting to be blinded by the morning sun. The room she was in had an old yet new feel to it. The wall across from her was a slightly different color of blue, as if someone had built a new wall and had not matched the colors perfectly. The night stand next to her still had a price tag on it and the dresser mirror still had a plastic cover over it. What she also saw on the dresser was Inuyasha's sword.

Kagome sat up slowly, her mind still in sleep mode. She carefully lifted Inuyasha's arm off her waist and let go of his hand, which fell limp on the bed. She slipped out from under the covers and walked over to the dresser, looking closely at the sword.

As she twirled it in her hands, she couldn't understand why he would carry it around on his waist all the time. It was dinged up and the blade was slightly rusted. The handle wrap was starting to tare and flare outward, showing some of the wood underneath. As she thought about the sword a sudden voice yelled, "What the hell are you doing with my sword!"

She turned around just in time to see Inuyasha snatched it out of her hands and go across the room. "I was just looking." Kagome told him, wondering why he was acting so weird. "Don't ever touch my sword again." He told her, baring his fangs. "What is your problem?" Kagome asked, getting angry at him.

"Just don't touch it okay!" He yelled back. "Why does it matter! It's apiece of trash anyway!" Kagome yelled walking over to his bedroom door. "It was my dads." He said softly. Kagome froze right were she was. She had hit an obvious pain in his past. "I'm sorry Inuyasha. It's not trash." Kagome said, turning to face him. "I don't care that it belonged to him! It's just really important, so don't mess with it okay!" Inuyasha said, the sadness gone as quick as it had came.

Kagome glared at him as he tied it around his waist and pulled on his red trench coat. As she watched him in anger, a thought suddenly hit her. "Souta!" She yelled. "What?" inuyasha asked, confused at her sudden outburst. "I left him at the house while Naraku and his friends got drunk! He might have seen them!" Kagome explained in a rush. Not waiting for Inuyasha to respond she ran out of his room and down the stairs.

As she headed for the door, she heard a news bulletin from in the living room. "The house at the Higurashi shrine burned down last night after a freak fire accident..." Kagome quickly ran into the room and stared at the TV. "The origination of the fire was caused by a fire being lighted in a illegal beer keg and an explosion erupted. Though no bodies have been found, the house was burned to the ground and nothing remains. More on this at eleven." Kagome stared in shock as the helicopter camera zoomed in on the ash that was once her home.

Inuyasha could only stand at Kagome's side as she watched the camera circle her home. "Good thing the shrine didn't catch fire, right Jan?" "Yeah, sure is lucky Bob." Inuyasha wanted to punch the TV in. Who were they to determine what was lucky and what was not? A home has burnt to the ground and they find it okay just because the shrine did not go with it.

"I'm going now." Kagome said dully, no emotion in her voice. "Were are you going?" Inuyasha asked, concern in his voice. "To the police station. Maybe they'll have Souta there." She told him, walking out the front door.

Inuyasha quickly followed her, only to see her stop a few feet from his front door. "Why did you stop?" ha asked, walking up to her. But as he followed her gaze, he saw what had made her stop. Sango, Miroku, and her little brother were standing in his driveway, covered in ash.

In one quick silent movement, she had ran up to him and pulled him into a tight hug. "Where did you find him?" Inuyasha asked, walking over to them. "Sango called Kagome's house to see if she wanted to come over and watch a movie. When she called, it sounded like people were trashing the place." Miroku explained. "Naraku..." Kagome said with disgust. "So we went over to check it out. When we got there, we found a man lighting a fire in a empty beer keg. I tried to put it out, but I guess I didn't get it all. So after Miroku grabbed Souta, we left. That's when the house caught fire." Sang explained. "What happened to Naraku?" Kagome asked, still not letting go of Souta. "I went in and tried to find him, but I couldn't. I'm so sorry." Sango told her. "I don't care about him. As long as Souta is safe, I'm fine." Kagome told her. "Where are you going to stay?" Asked Miroku. "I don't know right now. I guess the first thing to do is to find Mom." Kagome said. "I already tried to find your mom. Her work said she never showed up." Sango told her.

Kagome glared hard at the ground at this fact. She had left hem for dead once again. What was she thinking? That Naraku would take care of them. No, she didn't care. She was trying to start over without them. Well she didn't care,. This was the break she was hoping for. She could start over fresh and move on with her life. She would take care of Souta and they would live a good life. "So, what now?" Inuyasha asked. "We...are going to...do...something..." Kagome said, trying to think of something convincing. "Would you like to stay with me and Ayame?" Sango offered.

Kagome turned to her, love in her eyes. "Could we?" she asked, her heart becoming happy. "Sure!" Sango said with a smile. "I promise, we wont be any trouble! I'll have us in a apartment in no time!" Kagome told her, convincing her self at the same time. "Its okay, you don't have to rush." Sango told her. "But I wont be a burden any longer than I have to be." Kagome told her. Sango only sighed and started to walk to off, Kagome following, telling her about all her plans.

Okay, I know it is short, but I promise, the next one is going to be long. I just have so much on my plate right now with school that it is getting hard to juggle all of this. Until next update!