A/N: Hey guys!

Sorry, but right now I literally don't have time for anything. None of my lame excuses why it wasn't written faster or anything like that, and not even responses. : ( Sorry, but I wanted to get at least one chapter up this month, and I just ran outta time, so... Gomen! I really feel like I've been neglecting you guys. : (

Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter despite that...

Special thanks to everyone whose read this far, and extra-special thanks to everyone whose reviewed! You guys really are awesome!

Stale

Kagome let out a small breath as she was set down on the familiar floor of her room, Inuyasha coming to stand next to her in an instant as she sighed and stretched happily at the familiar surroundings.

She was vaguely surprised, if pleased, to find that nothing had changed since she had last been here.

Well, maybe some of the clothes she had left on the floor had been picked up, and her bed had been made, but other than that, everything was exactly the same.

Wasting no time, she made her was over and flopped down on the familiar cushions of her bed, sighing happily as she did so.

'This is heaven.' She murmured happily, hugging her pillow against her as the familiar softness of her bed enveloped her, so strange after months on end spent on hard ground, and then old-fashioned futons. Now, while Sesshomaru's futons were probably the very best of that age, they were still nothing near as comfortable as the ones she had at home, and could in no way compare in comfort.

Stretching happily, she reached down to strip off the tabi and zori from her feet, wiggling her toes about as she let the old-fashioned clothing drop to the ground.

'First, I'm going to get changed.' She announced loudly, jumping up from the bed and moving over toward her closet. 'Then maybe I'll have a bath. It doesn't seem like anyone's home anyway. Then we can have something to eat and...' She trailed off slightly as she caught site of Inuyasha's face from the corner of her eye.

The silver-haired hanyo had a slightly dark expression on his face. His arms were crossed in front of him, and his eyes were dark as he sniffed the air of the room, his ears pressing back slightly as he did so.

'What's wrong?' Kagome asked quietly, wondering what on earth the boy could be smelling that would put him in such a foul mood.

He turned his eyes on her, his scowl still firmly set in place. 'This room... it smells stale.' He said softly, and Kagome felt her eyebrows shoot up to get lost in her bangs, before coming down to form a frown on her forehead.

'Stale?' She questioned, not understanding how a room could smell "stale" as she turned back toward the closet, letting her manto slide to the floor as well.

'Yeah.' He said, still looking around the room, his face taking on a funny expression. 'It's almost like... someone died.' Kagome instantly tensed at that, her mind flying toward her grandfather as worry struck through her, because, really, who else could possibly have died here? It's not like she knew a lot of people, or that a lot of people came and spent time in her room, so who could it have been?

'Is it grandpa? Do you smell him?' She asked, her voice laced with distress as she looked around, as if expecting to see his corpse hiding in one of the corners. Maybe that's why everyone was out though-- maybe they were attending his funeral?

Inuyasha blinked, and then shook his head. 'No. I don't mean like that.' He said, his voice still very quiet, and Kagome both relaxed and tensed more at his words, not understanding what he was saying, but relieved that no one was dead.

'Then--' She began, only to be cut off by the half-demon a second later.

'After my mother died, they chased me out of the village we lived in.' He said, his eyes dark as they scanned the room. 'But sometimes I'd sneak back into the castle and go to the room she used to have there. The air was so still in there, and heavy, like no one had passed through it for a long time, and only her scent was there... but it was so old. And the room smelled stale.' He looked back at her. 'Like this.' He gestured around the room, as Kagome continued to stare at him, though comprehension was slowly beginning to dawn on her.

'So... basically you think no one's been in here for a while?' She asked softly.

Inuyasha frowned, shrugged, and then nodded. 'I guess.' He said slowly. 'I can smell them out in the hall-- their scents are all over the rest of the place, and it's leaking in here, but there's no trace that anyone's actually come in here for a long time.'

'Oh.' Kagome said softly, not sure how to respond to that. Because there were a myriad of things it could mean-- most of which were not very pleasant-- and her mind was choosing to steadily ignore what was most likely behind this new piece of information.

So, giving a small, dismissive shrug, she turned back to the wardrobe and pulled out one of her spare school uniforms-- thankful that her mother had always been smart enough to keep her well-stocked on them (considering how many she had ruined in the feudal era) as she turned back toward Inuyasha, smiling.

'I'm sure it's nothing.' She said, making her way toward the door. 'After all, this is my room, and if I'm not in it, then why would anyone else be?' She asked as she pulled open the doorknob, which turned grudgingly as the hinges gave loud shrieks of disapproval that caused Inuyasha's ears to crush against his head and make the half-demon wince. Ignoring this as well, Kagome move to step out into the hall, pausing to call back to Inuyasha.

'I'm going to take a bath, okay, so don't even think about following me!' She called, and Inuyasha glared.

'Keh! Why the hell would I want to look at you?' He demanded, his anger moving to cover up the other emotions that had been present in his voice before as Kagome called something back to him, and then made her way off down the hall toward that damn "bathroom" of hers with the evil contraptions that spouted water and somehow always managed to burn him, while he secretly continued to glare at the offending scents of the room, which had shifted slightly now that Kagome and him had been in there, and the window had door had been allowed open to set loose a current of fresh air that streamed out into the hallway.

He heard the water turn on as he moved to sit cross-legged on her bed, Tetsusaiga clutched firmly in one hand as he could not help but get the feeling that something was off here.

Kagome's family were very social with each other (when they weren't distracted with video-games, friends and feudal escapades that is), and he was certain that, despite what she said, they were probably in and out of her room all the time.

So why then couldn't he detect any fresh traces of them in here?

Why couldn't he get rid of the feeling that there was something wrong?

Why couldn't he stop thinking that something was not right here?

Tabi - Split-toed Socks

Zori - Sandals for a Kimono

Manto - Cloak