Chapter 5: unmasking the truth

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INU POV

He drummed his fingers on the surface of the desk as he thought over what to do next. He hesitated for a moment thinking deeply. He always had this problem; he found it extremely hard to end a movie. He'd write the full script in a matter of a few weeks, but he thought about the ending for months at a time. This script was no exception, he had written the whole thing in only a week, but it had taken him a year and a half just to write the ending dialogue, and now he only had a quarter of a scene left and he couldn't end it. He knew what he wanted to happen, but he didn't know how he wanted it to happen.

He sat up in frustration letting his eyes wonder to the wall ahead of him. It was bare, it didn't spike anything, but it did calm him slightly. He didn't get as frustrated as he used to when he was younger. He took a deep breath and slowly pushed himself away from the desk. He stared at nothing for awhile, and after a few minutes he rose from his seat. He was going to head downstairs when the phone on his desk began ringing.

He stood for a moment, then walked forward pressing the speaker button. "Hello…" He said. No one said anything. He dropped his self down onto the desk, leaning on it as he waited. "Hello…" he asked in a particularly annoyed voice.

"Hi…" a woman's voice said through the speaker. He furrowed his eyebrows before sitting down in his seat and pushing the chair into the desk. She didn't say anything more and he felt as if the voice was slightly familiar. A voice from his past…

"Is this Kaede?" He asked. The woman didn't say anything, and he sighed deeply before leaning back in his seat. "I'm going to hang up." He warned.

"No don't…is Kagome there?" She asked and he rolled his eyes while shifting his sight on the wall to his left.

"No she isn't…it's just me. Who is this?"

"It's Sango…" He sat up immediately when he heard her name. No wonder he recognized her voice. "How is she doing, I heard she's with you." She said in a whisper.

"Why are you speaking so softly?" He asked before taking a deep breath. She rolled her eyes while walking away from the mass of people behind her. She jogged into a secluded area. He waited for her to speak but she didn't, she was trying to sneak pass a pew producers into the empty dressing room up ahead. "Hey I don't have all day."

She ran forward walking into the room and closing the door behind her and turning. "I'm on set." She said as an excuse though that didn't tell him anything. She took a seat on the couch in the far back. "I don't have a lot of time. I heard she's with you, how is she?"

Inuyasha thought that over for a moment. "Shouldn't you know better than me?" He asked. Sango didn't say anything and he decided he'd sum her up as quickly as possible. "She's what they say she is." He said and that didn't make her feel good at all. Kagome used to be her closest friend, but after her parents passed away she had changed for the worst. She didn't want to have to explain that to Inuyasha, she hated coming to terms with it herself. "Hello…"

"Okay…" She said while soaking up what he said. "Can I come over?" She asked, he sighed not liking that idea at all."

"I don't think so…"

"I mean during your birthday, Miroku said he and Kouga were coming down, can I come too, please….I haven't seen her for a really long time. She won't talk to me." She said and though he wanted to say no, he could hear the anguish in her voice, and he decided he'd have to reconsider.

"Okay, fine, but only you." He warned, she smiled deeply and began saying a chorus of thanks. "Okay, whatever…" he mumbled while hanging up. He rolled his eyes as he dialed a number from the top of his head. It rung twice before a man picked up. "What the hell...why did you give Sango my number?" He snapped.

"You know my agent keeps my phone most of the time, what if that was him. You can't just scream anything you like…. You scared me." He said while sitting up in his seat. He took a moment to calm his pounding heart. "I wanted it to be like old times, you remember all of us hanging around the island during the summers, except without Kikyo, cause she's a lying whore." He mumbled while pressing the gas and bypassing the traffic light.

"So you decided that it'll be dandy to invite anyone to the island." He asked and Miroku thought that over for a moment. He caught the sarcasm in his friend's voice. It rendered him slightly speechless. "That's why I hate it when you come every year; you're always taking it upon yourself to do whatever the hell you want."

"I didn't tell Ayame…I just told Sango, she wanted to know where Kagome was."

"I really don't care." He said, before sighing deeply and running a hand through his hair. "I'm already frustrated as it is. I didn't need you inviting people over…"

"Why so frustrated?" Miroku asked out of nowhere. "Has Kagome been walking around naked? Did she ask for you to have sex with her again…is the beach not sunny enough? Do you have too many hot maids walking around…how frustrating." Miroku said sarcastically making Inuyasha roll his eyes.

"I meant writing wise idiot. But yeah she has been doing that lately, and it's getting really hard to turn her down. I swear next time I might just give in." He said softly. He was surprised at how true the statement was. Miroku rolled his eyes while slowing down to take a right. "Anyway I've been trying to finish off the script…I can't."

"Isn't it based on your life…how hard can it be?" Miroku asked and Inuyasha leaned back in his seat. That was his sentiments exactly. None of them said anything and Miroku smiled slightly as a smile appeared on his face. "Well I don't understand why you don't just do it." He said and Inuyasha raised his eyebrows at the change of topic. He rolled his eyes suddenly before drumming his fingers on the desk again.

"You know it's not really based on my life, it's actually based on…" He sighed in frustration; he wasn't going to explain his script to Miroku for the hundredth time. "It's not that simple, I'd be taking advantage of her." He said and Miroku thought that over. He didn't see how that was. "Plus I really don't know her…I mean I do but I don't anymore." He said with a shrug.

He nodded silently. "Oh I thought you were feeling awkward about it because she's you know… like your family." He said and Inuyasha scrunched his face up suddenly in complete disgust.

"Not at all Miroku, how do you figure?" He asked.

"Well not literally but you've known her since you were really little, and you know your dad and her dad were like brothers."

"You've known Sango since forever that never stops you from hitting on her." Miroku thought that over before agreeing that was in fact true. "Anyway…If I don't get it done it's just going to postpone my leaving." He said and Miroku widened his eyes suddenly. He didn't like that idea very much. "I mean I thought I was done, I thought I could go back and just write it, be done, but it's not happening." He said, "And I can't even concentrate, every time I focus I just… keep thinking…" he didn't want to admit his thoughts stayed on Kagome most of the time, but Miroku already sensed it. "My mind is on something else."

"You know why that is." Miroku said while sitting up. He slowed down as he got to his destination. "It's because you won't have sex with her." Inuyasha rolled his eyes, Miroku nodded harshly as if to punctuate on his findings. "It's true, it's true, you're having sexual frustration…"

"Sexual frustration really…." Inuyasha asked sarcastically.

"Besides you should do whatever she wants you too. Crazy chicks like Kagome could snap at any moment." He said as he slipped into a parking spot. "It's a known fact, one day she'll sneak in your room with a knife, that's when it's too late. She'll rape you then chop you up."

"Wow really." Inuyasha said while smiling. He knew he shouldn't laugh but he couldn't help but crack a smile, especially because Miroku sounded so serious. "I'll keep that in mind." He said while shifting his eyes to the closed lap top to his right. He narrowed his eyes slightly before turning away from it. "I'd love to know when this all started though. I think one of the reasons I'm hung up on her is because I only knew her when she was you know, sickly innocent Kagome. I wish I could have seen when she fell apart…"

"Wow you're a jerk…"

"No not in that way, I just feel like I could help her more if i did."

He unsnapped his seatbelt before rolling his eyes. "Why do you want to help her…you'll be in that damn island forever Inuyasha."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean if you go around finding every damn aspect of her life that got her in this situation, you'll be there forever…she's un-help-able…she started acting this way after her parents died one after the other, besides Souta and Kaede you're the only family she has. All you can really do for her is exactly what they've done. Put her somewhere alone where she can't hurt herself and let her deal with it. Please don't make Kagome your problem. You're finally ready to come home and she's already stopping you from writing. "

"Nobody's un-help-able Miroku…a lot of people lose their parents. They get over it eventually."

Miroku shook his head as he climbed out of his car. "Not Kagome…her life was already fucked up before that. You probably don't know the Kagome Higurashi theory, it's the scientific study that whatever wrong that can possibly happen in her life, does, and it happens ten times worse than imaginable."

"Wow, you think of that all by yourself." Inuyasha said and Miroku rolled his eyes as he closed his car door and turned towards the paparazzi.

"Believe whatever you want to." He said with a shrug. "I have to go anyway. I'll call you later." He said and before he could hang up Inuyasha did. He sat up and grabbed the laptop sitting on the desk. Miroku didn't know it, but he just gave him an idea. He wasn't there when Kagome had her break down, but what was stopping him from seeing it. He could look up her interviews, her red carpet appearances, fan videos of her from any year. He could find out how she handled herself, how she dealt with lost. When she put an end to movies, when she started, he wouldn't be able to have complete insight, but he'd get pretty damn close.

He typed her name into the search engine; the first thing that popped up was an article that read. 'Where has Kagome Higurashi gone?' A few other followed suit. It seemed to be the trending topic. A lot of people speculated that she was where he was. It was widely known that Inuyasha Takashi wasn't dead. The media knew he was in hiding. Most of his scripts were picked up as movies. When they were released they had his name posted as the writer. That told people that he was somewhere, but where, they didn't know. They thought she was in the same place, but every story about where that place might be was different.

He searched her biographies, most of them were fan based and her official was cut off at the end of her movie career. Some other mega fan sites had listed some possible movie roles she could do or they wanted to see her in. Most of the sites were abandoned, some kept up hope. He found a few accurate unbiased biographies that had listed her as not being active as an actress; she wasn't active as a model either, not since she was around seventeen. It began with her year of birth, her family heritage. Her father had been a director when he was younger, before retiring to take over his family business. It talked about her relation to him; his father was her god father. It mentioned her parent's death and then talked about her departing from modeling. It bounced around her last few movie rolls. He scanned the biography finding something that peaked his interest.

…After her mother's death Kagome had retired from modeling, stating in an interview: "it was something my mom was very into for me, but I don't think I was really all that into it…it's hard to do something that we sort of did together when she's gone…" He furrowed his eyebrows slightly. That was an interview he wanted to see. It seemed a bit off to him. He continued reading more of the article pausing to take in her father's death. He had died in a car crash near her mother's gravestone. She wasn't in town at the time, she was filming a movie, she hadn't gone to his funeral or the wake. She took only his town house and gave everything off to her brother.

The movie she had been filming during the time of her father's death was the last one she ever did. The article spanned off into 2 differences in personality. The differences after her mother's death, and the differences after her father's death. Her early retirement, her withdrawal from the media, and finally her present life. He started with her character change after her mom's death. It stated that her mother passed away when she was seventeen from unknown health causes. Kagome had stopped showing up to modeling shoots, and without any question she just out of nowhere stopped. She left various contracts for future movies that she didn't feel like fulfilling. She had a small break in her career but she came back a few months later. The article listed change in not only movie roles from young adult films to adult films, to even a shift in her social habits. He found it weird that after her mother's death she seemed to go out more, it said at some point she even seemed happier. He minimized the current web screen and opened up a new tab.

He typed in the search engine. "Kagome Higurashi's first interview after mother's death." The video popped up after a few modifications. It was on a celebrity website under an article that read. "Don't call it a comeback." He noticed the video was dated six years back. He widened the screen and pressed play. A woman sitting behind a desk began talking. "Don't call it a comeback, mega star Kagome Higurashi has returned with a brand new movie. It seemed like she had thrown away her career after her mother was found dead in their town house home from an unverified illness. The actress shielded from the paparazzi for some time, before neglecting to attend her rehearsals or modeling shoots. But Kagome is back a lot stronger now with a brand new movie, and we have her first interview since the break." The video panned out into a studio. A man with a microphone sat down.

"We are on the set of Kagome's brand new movie; she's here to talk about not only her advancement to more serious roles, but her small departure from the world of acting." The camera zeroed in on her. She had on a casual summer dark blue dress. It was brighter than what he was used to seeing her in. The color captured her eyes and highlighted her already gorgeous face. Her hair was straight, thick, and flowed to her shoulders. She had a huge smile on her face as she focused her attention on the camera. "So Kagome, our condolences, how are you holding up."

She nodded as her smile faltered a bit. "I'm doing well, it's been hard, but I have my dad and my brother helping me." She told the man. It wasn't until then he realized how forced her smile was. How tensed she sat in her seat. He paused the video before the man could speak. She had been gripping the armrest of the seat with her nails. She seemed extremely uncomfortable. He played the video while watching her body language it confused him a bit. He couldn't accurately assess her if he couldn't think back to how she acted before. He had to dig deeper. He let his eyes shift to the bottom of the screen. He was wondering why he was doing this. Why was he compelled to know what had corrupted Kagome.

It was hard for him to believe that this was now her. He had known her his whole life, Kagome was innocent, happy, and sickly good by nature. He knew that much and he was more than shocked to see how she had turned out. He was about to play the video once more when he heard a soft knock on the door. He turned in his seat for a moment before closing the lap top and rising up. He opened the door to his study. No one was there, just like he predicted. He closed the door and walked forward to the closed double doors of the hall. He unlocked the door and opened it; standing on the other side of the door was one of his help. She seemed nervous when she took him in.

"I'm sorry for interrupting, but I was just wondering if you were planning on eating today?"She asked, he crossed his eyebrows. "Mrs. Higurashi didn't eat at all today, and we're about to serve dinner, so I…"

"Oh yeah I am…sorry about that."He said while closing the door behind him and locking it. The woman walked down stairs as he followed. She stopped suddenly at the bottom of the steps and turned to face him.

"Is Mrs. Higurashi eating too?" She asked and he shrugged while letting her continue into the dining room. She walked quickly into the kitchen as he took his seat at the head of the table. He looked down at a few letters that waited him. He opened one envelope while one of the help came in with a single plate. He smiled gently her way before setting his eyes on the chair across from him.

"So what has she done all day?" He asked and the woman followed his glance to the chair too.

She placed the plate down and shrugged. "I haven't seen her all day. She came out really early this morning and asked for some pain medication. I don't think she's feeling well." He nodded in understanding while putting the letter down and grabbing his fork. He was about to place the fork into the food when he began getting an uneasy feeling.

He looked up as the woman made her way towards the kitchen. "Wait, so she hasn't eaten anything?" He asked. The woman turned around and nodded. The uneasy feeling got worse. He thought something over quickly. "What did you give her?" She turned around in confusion. "What pain medication did you give her?"

"Uh…I don't know I didn't give it to her….she asked where it was…." He rose up from his spot suddenly. She watched in shock as he took off. He slid himself passed the piano room and into the long hall filled with guest rooms. The first room on his left was closed like the others while the second one was filled with suitcases and boxes. He stared towards it before focusing his attention to the closed room to his left. He knocked on the door waiting for her to answer. No one said anything and he could feel his heart begin pounding excessively. He knocked on the door for the second time.

"Kagome….Kagome…." He said but he got no answer. He was beginning to get a bad feeling. He didn't know why, but he could feel it in the center of his gut, something was wrong. He put a hand on the door knob, the door was locked. He knocked once more before turning and unlocking the door. He pushed it open; the first thing that hit him was the sour smell of cigarette smoke. It clouded the room, and caused him to narrow his eyes. He looked around noticing more suitcases and piles of wet clothes sitting around the room. There were a few cigarette packages on the floor as he walked deeper in the room. A soft wind took over him and he looked up catching the open window, he let his eyes shift to the floor.

He actually felt his heart stop suddenly as he witnessed a lifeless body. She laid wearing only a white oversized shirt, she was blue and pale, her eyes closed and her mouth partially open. He ran towards her shaking her. She didn't move, he continued but she seemed to be gone. Her body was cold and frail looking. He put his finger to her throat and he felt relief go through him when he felt the soft steady beating of her heart. He picked her up gently in his arms and turned for the door. He quickened his pace to a slow jog. One of the help walked towards him, worry evident on her face.

"She took some of the painkillers, the one Mr. Tashio brought last year for his arm." She said softly and he knew exactly what she was talking about. He nodded as she looked down at Kagome. "Is she dead?" She said in shock as her eyes widened.

He shook his head. "No. she's just a little tired." He lied while passing her and making his way out to the lobby. He ran up the stairs turning down the hall towards his bedroom. He kicked the door open with his leg before setting her down on the bed. He went back to his door and locked it. He returned to her quickly putting a finger to her nose. Her breathing was shallow. "Okay Kagome…" He whispered as he took a deep breath and placed two cupped hands onto her chest. He pumped quickly and steadily, he wasn't sure if that was what he was supposed to do, but he knew her breathing was way too shallow. He lowered his face to hers, he could feel her breath on his nose, but it was barely there. He needed to wake her up; he slowly lowered his lips to hers and began blowing air into her.

He couldn't tell if it was working and his nerves began turning into frustration which later began turning into pure fear. He took a deep breath while looking down at her pale face. "Come on wake up Kagome…come on…" He whispered while shaking her, she didn't budge. "Don't do this to me." He said while pushing his lips back onto her cold ones. He blew more air into her, but it didn't seem to do anything, he was about to give up when he felt her chest heave up suddenly. He looked down at her. She was still unconscious but he had a feeling she was on the brink. He lifted her up gently and walked towards the open door at the end of his room. He opened it up revealing his extremely large bathroom. He walked down to the shower on his right and placed her on the floor. He turned the shower on letting cold water drench her. As soon as the water fell she heaved upwards and her eyes opened suddenly. He felt relief come over him. He turned off the shower as she began coughing hysterically. He walked towards her, but as he did she began trying to shuffle herself up. "Are you okay?" He asked as she crawled/ran her way to his toilet. He watched as she began letting out the contents of her stomach into the toilet. He scrunched his face in disgust as he heard her gag reflex heave her stomach into the toilet.

That didn't stop him from slowly walking towards her. He picked up her long wet hair and tossed it to her back. Her long white shirt clung to her petite figure. He could see the outline of her bare ass. She was completely naked under the shirt. Did she believe in clothes? She gagged again before backing up and placing a hand to her lips, wiping off anything she might have missed. Her face was still extremely pale and still a bit blue.

He didn't say anything for awhile, but as she placed her hands on her face he decided to say something. "What were you thinking?" He demanded, and though he didn't mean to be so harsh, that question kept swarming around his head. "How much oxycontin did you take?" He asked. That made her look up suddenly. He remembered the medication had been left there when Miroku broke his arm last year.

She didn't say anything; she sort of narrowed her eyes and pushed her hands through her hair. She was shaking very lightly and he turned around in complete realization. She must have been cold, that made sense he just drowned her in ice cold water. He walked back into his room grabbing the sweat shirt he ran in this morning. "It might be a bit strong." He said while handing it to her. She didn't take it so he dropped it on her. "I ran in it this morning…" He said as she slowly pulled it over her drenched body. It drowned her completely but it seemed to actually keep her warm. He stood a few inches from her just staring. "So are you going to tell me what was running through your head?" He asked.

"It's none of your business." She mumbled softly as she stared at the wall across from her. He stared for a moment before scratching his head and trying to form words to say.

He didn't want to come off as an asshole, but he could feel his temper coming out, and though he usually didn't get too angry anymore, he was simmering. "That's funny…" He said suddenly. "It's funny that you'd say it's none of my business when less than ten minutes ago I was lifting your lifeless body off the floor. So I have to disagree, it's a little bit of my business." He said sarcastically.

She turned to look at him and he sighed abruptly. "Listen I know you've been going through a lot lately, but suicide should never be an…."

"I wasn't trying to kill myself." She snapped. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"Okay, then what were you doing overdosing on pain medication." She closed her eyes in frustration before rising slowly from her spot. He watched as she paused to let blood rush through her legs before walking out of his bathroom. He let her leave only slightly before walking only a step forward and grabbing her by the arm. That halted her easily, she was still so weak. "Not so fast." He said while yanking her gently towards him. He walked forward and though she fought him with little energy. He was easily able to steer her where he wanted her to go. He let go of her arm and placed his hands on her shoulders. He stirred her out of his room down the hall and towards the locked hall.

"Where are you taking me?" She asked softly. She had stopped fighting and allowed him to weakly transport her to the other end of the hall. She felt unusually weak, and her will to fight ran out a quarter of the way. She felt drowsy almost as if she could collapse at any moment. He sensed that immediately and slowed his pace.

"Stay with me…" He said while standing in his spot. She fell back and he opened his arms catching her suddenly. "Kagome…" He whispered. She hadn't completely passed out. She tried to regain her balance. "Let me carry you…"

"No I'm fine." She snapped while walking forward. He kept a wary eye on her as he dug into his pocket for the key. He unlocked the double doors and waited for her to walk forward. She did, and he found it a bit weird and out of character for her to follow orders with no discretion. It made him wonder how much she actually took.

"Are you okay?" He asked while closing the door behind him. She didn't say anything she just tried desperately to keep herself afloat. She swayed back and he ran to catch her. "Okay, up you go." He said while whisking her off her feet.

She squirmed a bit in his arms. "I can walk myself." She whispered, but after awhile she settled in his arms and didn't say anything. He opened the door to his study easily. He hadn't locked it before; he went in and shut the door with his foot. He looked around the room searching for somewhere to put her. He looked down, she appeared to be sleeping, and though he was no medical expert he didn't think that was a good idea. He moved her making her shift suddenly. Her eyes opened slowly revealing breath taking blue eyes.

"I think you have to stay awake for awhile." He whispered to her. She shifted a bit in his arms, and he walked deeper in the room. He lowered himself and set her on the floor. She scrunched into a ball while hugging herself. He kept his eyes on her while turning towards his desk. He walked over to his phone; he looked through his desk looking for a significant piece of scratch paper. He found it after a few minutes; it had a number on it. He dialed it quickly and as it rung he walked towards her. He kneeled down and shook her awake. She moved away from him in frustration. "Come on Kagome…" He said, and even though he was a combination of upset, scared, and annoyed, he couldn't hide the compassion that came over him.

The phone rang twice and suddenly someone picked up. It was a man and he turned to face the phone. "Hello, Myoga…" He said suddenly.

"Yes, may I ask whose speaking?" He got up from his spot next to Kagome. "It's Inuyasha." Myoga froze at that and stared at the wall across him.

"Hello, Inuyasha, how's things going, how's Kagome?" He asked as his heart began beating over time. He suspected something was amiss, he could feel it.

"Not too good, I'm afraid Kagome isn't doing well...she overdosed…"

"That's impossible." Myoga said while standing up. "We confiscated all illegal narcotics from her before her trip." He said, Inuyasha raised both his eye brows. He now knew officially why she had taken the pills, but he also knew that a majority of the rumors about Kagome was true.

"It was pain medication." He whispered while turning to look at her. She was moving slightly in her spot. "The problem is the closest thing I have to a hospital is on the other end of the island. There's no way I'm going to get her there today. She woke up, but I'm not particularly skilled at this…"

"She's alive, she's awake." He said in relief and Inuyasha rolled his eyes while backing up towards her body. "Keep her awake, what pain medication was it? It wouldn't be the first time…" Myoga muttered, but Inuyasha ignored him as he crouched down near Kagome.

"You got to stay awake." He whispered. "It was Oxycotin, I don't think she took too much, with her weight, she'd be a goner if she did." He said, Myoga soaked that in for a moment.

"Well you can't pump her stomach, but she's not completely unconscious, so that's good." He said while sitting back in his seat. He awakened his computer and began typing things in. He looked up at the various information being displayed. "Has she vomited?"

"Yeah, a bit earlier…"

"That's good, Oxycotin causes nausea, and it's safe to vomit." He said while skimming through more. "I'd still not allow her to sleep; she needs to expel the rest though." Inuyasha thought that over before sighing deeply. "Sit her up." He shook her gently then pulled her up. He leaned her against the closest available wall. She sat up and as she did he watched as her face twisted into disgust, her face turned a pale green and she launched forward. She ran to the room across his study. Thank god it was in fact a bathroom. He turned towards the speaker phone.

"Why didn't you tell me any of this?" He said, and almost instantly Myoga knew what he was talking about. He could hear the anger lining his voice. "I mean you send her here to live with me, can I get some fucking Intel. Maybe I would have thrown everything out of my medicine cabinet, I don't know…" He said while crossing his arm. He felt an uncertainty fill the pit of his stomach. He didn't feel good about being away from her for so long.

"I'm sorry…" Myoga whispered. "It's just that…I was afraid you wouldn't take her."

"Your damn right I wouldn't have." He said while rotating himself towards the door. "I shouldn't have to be dealing with this. What's wrong with her?"

Myoga paused slightly. He didn't know how to sum Kagome up in words that would fulfill Inuyasha's query. He sighed deeply, "I don't know Inuyasha, she's sick." He said, and the shocking candor in his voice had shivers running through him. "People say she hasn't been the same since her dad died, some say it was after her mother died, but in reality she changed as soon as she signed that first film contract. She didn't have the spirit for it. It destroyed her….I'm sure you can relate."

Inuyasha stumbled in his spot slightly. "You think she'll get better?" He asked silently.

Myoga caught the slight concern in his voice, and he smiled slightly. "If we don't all give up on her, maybe." He said, but in reality he didn't see it happening. He thought Kagome was completely lost, all their was left to do was maintain her. Make sure she didn't kill herself, wind up in jail. There was really no saving her, she was already dead.

"I'll hold that to you." Inuyasha mumbled while walking forward. He didn't bother saying bye. He just pressed the end button and walked out of the room. "Kagome…." He said while opening the door to the bathroom. He paused when he witnessed her sitting on the floor near the toilet. She had her arms around her knees as she stared at the floor. "You look a lot better." He lied. She still looked like shit. Her face was so pale, and she was still damp from being soaked in the shower. She did seem like she could hold herself up though. He stopped at the door frame. "I think you'll survive to see another day." He said with a soft smile.

She didn't say anything, she just stared at the wall ahead. His own smile faded slightly and he sighed slightly. "I'm going back into the office." He said, "You think you'll be okay?" He asked. She didn't say anything she just stared forward and he bowed out leaving her there.

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INU POV

The next morning

(8:30)

"How was she?" He asked the help as she placed the plate next to him. He had Kagome on extreme watch since last night. She didn't go or do anything without someone monitoring her. He hadn't gotten any messages during the night, so he assumed she was fine.

"She's on her way here." The woman said while pouring coffee into the cup. He smiled her way and she returned it with a bit of a blush. She walked away, back into the kitchen. He picked up his fork and placed it into diced potatoes. He was about to place one in his mouth when he sensed her. The smell of the ocean mingled with her own naturally sweet scent, but she wasn't consumed by it like she usually was. He didn't turn to glimpse at her but when she passed him he took her in fully.

She was completely dry and from an untrained eye she wore what looked like a black bikini with a tank top over it, but in actuality she only had on underwear and her bra. She obviously didn't seem to believe a bathing suit was a necessity. What took him by surprise was that she didn't appear to be wet at all, as if she didn't bother to get into the water. Her hair was dry and filled with volume as it trailed down the small of her back. He could see her petite frame completely as she took a seat in her usual spot.

"You're looking better." He said as she stared down at her food. She looked up at him when he spoke. Her face was still a bit pale, but not sickly so like yesterday. Her hair framed her perfect face pristinely, but she quickly tossed it back as she tore a grape from its vine. She took a small bite as she stared at him. He smiled smugly "Looks like your back to normal…"

"Thank you…" She said interrupting him suddenly. It caught him by surprised, and he swore if he had something in his mouth he would have choked.

"You're very welcome… I'm sure you would have done the same for me." He said after his initial shock faded slightly. She smiled to herself as she pushed another grape into her mouth. She looked up at him and for the first time he actually saw humor touch her dark blue eyes. It was remarkably gorgeous. "I guess not…"

"I wouldn't know what to do…" She mumbled and he smiled slightly himself while looking down. He did it partially to hide from her overly perfect glance. He let some of the tension from the conversation slip before looking up again. She was staring at her coffee cup at the middle of the table. He didn't believe that she wanted to end her life; he actually began to think she might have been a bit horrified at the concept.

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Review please, I hope you enjoyed.