Author's Note: Hey everyone, I hope you enjoy this fanfic, please let me know what you think, thanks! And no, of course I don't own Inuyasha. Enjoy!

Side note: "Normal parenthesis" means that someone is talking; parentheses italicized means that it's a message/email and parentheses italicized and underlined is Kagome's thoughts during that moment or her reflecting back on that scene. As always, enjoy!

Part 21: Buzz

Hearing my phone buzz, I dove for it. Inuyasha's text?

It wasn't him. It was a snapchat from Sesshomaru. I sighed. Nope. Not him.

"Hey."

"Hey." I wrote back.

"Where are you now?"

"In my room."

"I figured. What room are you in?"

I had a bad problem with memorizing things. Things like names and numbers just easily slipped my mind. I got up, walking to my door and opened it. There was Sesshomaru, walking around on the first floor, and checking every name tag.

"There you are Kagome!"

He rushed over, hugging me. I was confused. He doesn't even live in this building.

"How did you get in? You don't even live here!"

"Someone let me in on their way out. So this is your room, huh?"

He was checking out my room, the door to which I had left open when I stepped out of my room.

"Yes."

"Can I come in?"

I gestured, "go ahead."

He stepped in, taking off his shoes at the door and sat down on my bed. I lightly closed the door behind me as I followed him in.

"Did you need something?" I knew I must have sounded cold, but I was waiting for Inuyasha to text me. Something. Anything. But I had gotten nothing that day.

"Not really. I had time on my hands and thought I'd come to visit you."

"Well, welcome. It's a bit crowded, due to finals and all." I turned on the TV, sitting down on my chair.

"My room is too. You have a single?"

"Yeah."

"We should go out."

"In the middle of finals? Compared to you, I'm a busy senior if you forgot." I smiled. "Stop playing hooky and get serious."

"It's no fun to be so serious all the time." He tilted his head, checking to see what was on the TV before looking back at me, a smirk on his face. "If you want, we could go shopping? I have a car on campus and I'm dying to go out and have some fun."

"Have fun by yourself. I'm busy." I leaned against the chair. I'm busy waiting for Inuyasha to reply..

"What could you possibly be busy with? We need to go out."

"Finals! Finals!" I pointed at my books. "Otherwise, you want to do my papers for me?"

"If you do my exams, sure."

I turned my back to him, opening a book and starting to take down the notes. Sesshomaru moved to stand behind me, reading what I was writing. "That looks boring."

"It is." I replied, not looking up.

He suddenly grabbed my left arm, which dropped the book.

"What are you doing? Let go." I tried pulling it back but to no avail.

"Wait, wait." He held my arm with his right hand while his left hand grabbed my highlighter off my desk. He then wrote on my arm horizontally, "Sesshomaru was here." When he finished, his grip lessened on my arm, to which I yanked from him.

"You're childish." I tossed the highlighter at him, to which he caught while laughing.

"Careful, I might make a note on your other arm."

"Or, you could get out and I could study."

"Alright, alright. My tour here is over. Give me a hug." It wasn't a question, it was a demand.

I got up and hugged him anyway. When he finally left, I closed my book and put away my notes, picking up my phone to check for any messages. None. What's taking him so long? I whined, putting my chin on my desk. I miss him.. I miss our sweet moments. I closed my eyes, remembering each and every text, remembering my responses, and how happy I had felt each time. Who had replied last? I checked my phone. I did. Then it should be his turn to reply.. What's taking him so long?

As I was about to doze off, my phone buzzed loudly on the desk. My eyes flew open and I darted towards it again. Inuyasha? Nope. It was Sesshomaru.

"When are you going to dinner?"

"Probably around 6 PM?" Dinner didn't matter to me right now.. I just wanted.. No, I needed Inuyasha..

"Let's go together then!"

"Sure! See you then." I put down my phone, clicking it off and went back to dozing off.

Sometime later, my phone buzzed loudly again on the desk. I opened my eyes. How long had I been asleep? When did I fall asleep? Why was I so easily tired nowadays? Why was I not going to bed at night, but sleeping in the afternoons? It was like I had turned into a vampire. I looked at the clock. 5 PM. An hour before dinner.. So it shouldn't be Sesshomaru snapchatting, right? Then, it was Inuyasha? I grabbed my phone. Nope. It was Ayame.

"Hey. How are you?"

"Good, how are you?"

"Good! I just got out of work! Wanna meet tonight to study?" Ayame had gotten the server position at the dining hall recently and had been working the early shift today.

"Sure!" I needed to stop focusing on him. I had studies to focus on. Slapping my cheeks, I started to pack the books I would need to read for tonight into my backpack.

At 6 PM, I met Sesshomaru in the dining hall. As usual, we put our things down and entered the cafeteria.

"Are you really sure that dude over there won't do?"

"Not interested at all." This time I didn't bother looking.

"Come on, at least look at the guy. He's a new international student and is cute."

"Then you date him."

"What about her? She's got nice boobs. And her butt is pretty small."

"Why are you checking out other girls when you have a girl?" I smirked, hitting his side. I knew I had him this time.

"I'm not. I'm loyal to my girlfriend, you know?" He looked down at the arm I had hit him with. "You washed it off?" His fingers closed around my wrist, pulling it, and me closer to to him so he could examine it.

"Obviously. I'm not walking around with that on my arm. It looks ridiculous."

"You're no fun Kagome. It's ok, I can write it on you again." He winked.

"Try it and I'll beat you up." I said half jokingly.

He shrugged. "A girl like you? But I'm pretty strong."

My mind flashed back to Inuyasha's words at Valentine's Day "no, I'm strong." Mentally shaking myself of the thought, I forced it to the back of my mind. Why can't I stop thinking of him? No.. No.. Stop.

"Kagome?"

"Yes!"

"What are you thinking about? You haven't touched your food."

I looked down at my uneaten meatballs and spaghetti. "Homework. So much to do, haha so little time."

"Geez, they must have packed you with homework. You keep talking about it. Ah, I forgot a drink. Be right back."

I nodded as Sesshomaru got up and went back inside to the cafeteria. Feeling my phone suddenly buzz, I took it out of my pocket. Inuyasha? No. Ayame.

"Hey girl! 8 PM sound ok to you?"

"That''s perfect. Thanks. I'll meet you at the library."

Sesshomaru came back, holding a glass of milk in his right hand. He sat down across from me. "You still haven't touched anything on your plate?"

"Just got a snap from Ayame." I said, twirling my fork around my spaghetti and then leaning in to take a bite.

"You guys gonna meet up later or something?"

"Homework. Why, you wanted to join us?"

He sighed. "You guys are always such good students."

I laughed. "What's wrong with that?"

He reached out to pat my head, "No wonder why people mistaken you for a freshman, you look and act like one. Aren't seniors supposed to be partying?"

"Not all seniors do that."

I watched as his phone buzzed and he reached into his pocket to read the new text.

"Who's it from?"

"This girl."

"Ooh! Your girlfriend?" I asked, biting a meatball.

"No."

"You have more than one girlfriend?" I asked while chewing on another mouthful of spaghetti.

"Don't be foolish. This girl likes me and I don't really want to reply. Don't know what to say to her. Hey, I like you as a friend? But I don't see you as a woman?"

I suddenly thought of Kikyo and Inuyasha. He had rejected her too.. But what if she was still texting his phone? Was I the only girl with his number? What if other girls had it? Mentally slapping myself, I thought No. Not the situation right now.

"Well, don't say it that way. It sounds rude. She is a woman. Maybe instead, just say that you're not interested?"

"But it's too direct. What if she's insulted?"

"Sometimes, it's better to be direct. Sever those feelings she has for you right then and there. What if your current girlfriend misunderstands your hesitations?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right..."

Finishing my meal, I smiled. "I always am."

"I hate you."

"No, you know you love me." I laughed.

"Yes, yes." He got up. "Ready to leave?"

Checking my watch, I realized I had roughly an hour left and nodded. We walked back to the dorm halls together. Although he didn't live in the same hall, he walked with me because he lived across from me.

"Hey!" Ayame looked up as I opened the door to the private study room.

"Hey! Did you wait long?"

"No, I just got here."

"Great." I sat across from her, laying a textbook open on the table. As I started reading, she asked, "How's the boy?"

"No response yet."

"How many days has it been?"

"Roughly? I would say 3 going onto 4. But he usually replies on the 4th day."

"Endless loop again?"

"Probably.. Or he's busy. When he's not busy, it seems like he's always depressed, causing the endless loops.. Or work will cause him to be depressed even more." I sighed.

"You're doing that a lot lately."

"Waiting?"

"Sighing like that. Are you stressed too?"

I shook my head. "I'm sharing his burdens, although he doesn't tell me his burdens.. I feel like I'm falling into a depressed mood lately. Whenever I hear a buzz, I keep thinking that it's him. But it's Sesshomaru or you contacting me. Oh! Not that that's a bad thing! Don't get me wrong. I'm glad to be contacted by you guys and all… But it's just not from him.. Not from the one I want to hear from the most."

"Not from the one you want the most. I get that." She looked up at the ceiling. "What to do, what to do?"

"You know the worst part?"

"What?"

"The worst part is that I don't know what he's doing during these times. I'm worried about him hurting himself.. In any way. But he doesn't listen when I talk to him about it. Like, he'll admit the reason that he's acting like that on a certain day. Whether it was his family, his work, or just feeling depressed in general, he is honest and tells me the reason. But when I try giving a solution, that's a whole different story. It is so complicated."

"Someone suffering from suicidal thoughts often are, Kagome. There's times when he's doubting himself and the world around him. Those drugs don't help. It will help him in that moment to feel better, but the effects just wear off after some time. And when they're suicidal, sometimes, you might never get that explanation on why he's depressed. And you'll have to deal with that. All I can say is, just keep supporting him on. Keep encouraging him."

I nodded. "I wanted to be the one by his side. But there's no give and take without a price... So, what price will I have to pay to make him stray from his path of self-destruction..?"

The silence hung in the air for what to be ages before I shifted my eyes back onto my book, absentmindedly turning a page.

On the 4th day, Inuyasha sent in a text.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Wyd?"

"Nothing right now. Are you ok?"

"Yeah."

"Are you eating well? Taking care of yourself? Taking care of your body?"

"Stop nagging me."

Although I knew I was being repetitive, I couldn't help but ask him those questions. I couldn't help but worry about him. I knew I wasn't expressing myself correctly. I was in love with him but I had so much trouble expressing my love. I was afraid of saying something wrong, it being misunderstood, and taken the wrong way. But if I didn't say anything, then that would also be misunderstood..

"...I'm sorry, I was worried. It's been 4 days.. Where were you?"

"What did you think was happening?"

I didn't know. Perhaps I over thought? Perhaps I overreacted?

"I didn't know what was happening. That's why I was worried. Perhaps I over thought it..?"

"I didn't come here to be nagged, so will you stop it?"

"...Then I won't nag you."

"Thanks."

"Mhm."

"Love me."

Our conversations would increasingly become more and more complicated. Sometimes it was positive, other times it was not.

"I keep getting mistaken as a freshman! It's annoying." I wrote to him one day.

"Haha cute."

"Is it?"

"I don't care about other people's opinions of you. It doesn't matter. Only my opinion should matter and I think you're beautiful as you are."

"Then you don't mind that I look young?"

"No haha"

Remembering how he was taking longer and longer to answer, I had to confirm something that had been on my mind for a while.

"You said before that you talk to other girls while gaming. And that you've let them know that you have a girlfriend.. I'm curious.. Do you have other girl's phone numbers?"

"Babe, the ones saved on my phone all have boyfriends."

So he did. My phone suddenly buzzed. A snapchat from Sesshomaru.

"Where are you? What are you doing now?"

"Busy. Can we talk tomorrow?"

"Aww.. Sure."

Replying to Inuyasha, I wrote back, "Oh."

"If it bothers you, I'll remove them."

Remembering what I had said about keeping busy during depression, I urged him not to delete the numbers. I didn't really like the idea, but if he had more company by his side, more people to support him; then what was the harm in that?

Author's Note: Hey everyone, thank you very much for reading! As always, please leave your reviews on what you think about what you've read so far. Would you want to see more? Please favorite the story or feel free to hit the "follow" button for me, so you'll be notified first of any new chapters/stories. Thank you guys again!