It was late in the night when Kagome heard a creaking noise coming from the inside of her closet. Immediately alarmed, she pulled her covers up to her chin and sank further into her bed. The creaking finally ceased after just a few moments and Kagome let out the fearful breath she'd been holding.

Then she heard her closet door slowly sliding open.

Frightened, Kagome pulled herself up into the corner of her bed and pressed her back against the wall behind her. She could feel the cool breeze from outside seeping through the wall and into her skin, but at this point in time her body temperature was the least of her problems. As the closet door reach half open, Kagome squeezed her eyes tightly shut and prayed that she would live to see the light of the morning.

"It's just the house settling." She said quietly to herself, not wanted to attract the immediate attention of the thing inside her closet.

"This house is over thirty years old- it's settled."

Kagome suppressed the urge to scream that was welling up in her throat and whipped her head to look at the end of her bed. To her surprise...and utter delight, she found her eyes landing on the form of the ghost boy she had met earlier.

"You!" She whispered angrily, sorely wishing she could scream her frightened lungs out. "How could you scare me like that!"

"Easily." He said smirking at her cockily. "It's funny when you scream."

"But I didn't scream." She yelled indignantly.

The boy's smirk faltered and was replaced by a look of annoyance. The kind of look a child might wear when finding out that someone had eaten their candy. "I know."

Kagome rolled her eyes and clasped her hands securely before her. Anger was seeping into every muscle, every limb, every thought in her head. This boy, the ghost boy who so arrogantly sat on her bed, needed to be dealt with. She had never before in her life committed an act of violence, but figured that now would be a good time to break that streak. There was only one problem...and unfortunately it was one she could not find a way around.

He was dead.

As she had been well informed, she could not harm someone who was dead. It was physically impossible. This truth infuriated her.

"Can't you just leave me alone!" She screamed exasperatedly. There was absolutely nothing else she could possibly do.

"I could," The boy said, his smirk returning. "But I'm not going to. This is my house and I'm not going anywhere."

"Can't you at least pick on someone else?" Kagome asked, now feeling the tireing effects of staying up so late.

"Not really. You're the only one who can see me."

Kagome threw her head back and stared at the ceiling. "Lucky me."

This was impossible. There was just no way she could win! No way at all. What made her so special that she was the only one able to see the horribly annoying ghost boy? Who in the world hated her to an extreme such as this? Could they not have implemented a different form of punishment. Anything but this.

"Please, just leave me alone." Kagome sighed and slipped back into her bed and under the warmth and thickness of her pink comforter.

"Hey!" The boy yelled suddenly. He would leave her alone when he was good and ready...and he wasn't ready yet. "You can't just ignore me! This is my house! You have to do what I say!"

Kagome slipped her hand out from under the comforter and waved at him dismissively. "You can come back and bug me tomorrow- uh- later, but right now I need my sleep.

"Hey!" The boy yelled again. 'Who does she think she is?'

"No." Was all Kagome said before turning her back to him and closing her eyes.

When the light of morning finally came, Kagome was still asleep. The sun shone brightly through her window and reflected on her bedroom, showering the walls with patches of bright sunlight. Time passed slowly, and though still sleeping, Kagome was greatful. The events of the previous night had shattered the framework of her sanity and were slowly working to crumble her already weakening foundation. Though her strength was being restored, it was unfortunate for Kagome that she wasn't in a concious state. If she had been she would have seen the clawed finger turning off her alarm clock.

The ghost boy was downstairs when he heard Kagome scream. His ears perked up at the loud sound, but quickly flattened against his head at the loud noises issuing from Kagome's second-floor bedroom.

"I'm late!" He heard her screech numerous times.

...wasn't once enough?

Kagome hurried down the stairs, tripping and stumbling as she did so. She was supposed to have been at her grandfather's shrine three hours ago. Her alarm should have gone off at 7:00 a.m.! It was now 11:00 a.m. and Kagome was sure she would be severely scolded for her unpunctuality. Busily, she scurried about the kitchen, looking for anything that might be edible.

Nothing.

"I don't have time for this." Kagome groaned.

All the while, the ghost boy watched from the kitchen entrance. His eyes followed her like those of a hawk. Every moved she made, he was able to see. As she sighed with anger and confusion, his inward smirk grew larger and larger. If only Kagome had known she was feeding his ego, then maybe she would have stopped her scrambling and taken the time to abuse him verbally with the harsh words that would cut him down to size.

At the site of Kagome turning around, jacket in hand, the boy dashed out of the kitchen and into the living room closet. Carefully he cracked the sliding door open. He watched Kagome shrug on her jacket and pull a shiny silver key out of her pocket, look at it for a moment, then put it back. As she turned her back to his spying eyes, he felt confidence wash over him in endless waves. He had gotten away with it and she would never know. Thinking he was home-free, the boy stumbled back in shock as Kagome spun around to look directly at the closet door.

"I know it was you." She said, pointing an accusing finger to illustrate her point.

So much for his ego.

A/N:

Once again, I know this chapter is short. I'm finally doing some 'mager' planing for this story, and I think things will start to pick up. I'm expecting them to in the next chapter, but if they don't (my writing tends to draw out by itself) I am terribly sorry. Please review! I hope you'll also read my other stories: Dissapearance, and Together From The Inbetween. Later!