Alright, since "White Dove Black Falcon" won't be starting for another few weeks or so, I am brushing dust off my old stories and getting new chapters out! Mainly this one, since "The Moon & Star" I'm heavily revising future chapters and whatnot. I'm shocked that people are still into this one! But hey, the more I write the better my skills! Isn't that true for all if usl writers out there?

NOTE: A new poll is up! I know, "Again?" But this is to decide which couples to include. There are seven choices and you can vote for up to three. It will close next Friday, the 21st.

One of the three stories voted on, "Don't Let Your Suns Fade", since it is a one-shot it will posted as soon as I can upload it. I have it finished but every time I try and upload it, it says "empty document" or "error processing"-which hasn't happened to me before! I don't know what to do? Is it just me...?

For Chapter 10 reviewers:

buttercup - Sorry! But I hope the cliffy will be worth it for the next few chapters...

DiscipleOfAnime - Thanks so much! I'm happy you're liking it... The next few chapters will be... happier ones I promise!

LovesDepp - Don't hate! LOL! Some angst had to happen sooner or later. But fluff galore will come shortly, I swear! Just keep reading!

manga-animelove - LOL! I know, I feel the same! But don't worry, things always having a way of working themselves out... you'll see!

alba angelo - Rest assured there will be "sweeter moments" in the coming updates...!

SweetHunniiBunnii - Thanks! You've been nothing but helpful and supportive!

InuEared Miko of Darkness - I completely agree with you! I was in tears just writing it. I had that scene in my head since the beginning. And thanks so much! Sweeter times will be ahead!

Disclaimer: The hot, silver headed hunk and co. and belong to Rumiko Takahashi. I only own my ideas and the evil step-father.

Chapter 11

He was such an idiot. How long did he think it could go on like that?

His house was now empty, cold, dark, and lifeless. The kitchen was always where he was cooking for her, the living room where they sat on his couch and enjoyed some sappy romantic comedy or adventurous action movies, even the room she deemed her sanctuarary seemed to taunt him. The door was open a crack but the fumes of paint still reached his sensitive nose.

His silver hair dropped all around his face as he sat on the edge of his bed. His knees supported his arms with his hands folded, staring out into nothing. His eyes were halfway shut in mental exhaustion with bags underneath his once lively golden suns. The warmth that usually filled this room was now nonexistent. He didn't know how long he just sat there, or if it was morning, noon or night.

Ever since he reached this spot all he could think about was her. He kept on hurting her by just staying with her. He cringed at the accusations that were thrown at him, flinched at how she was much younger than him and that she deserved better than an older half-blooded freak that has no family. The tears that fell from those precious, innocent eyes always made him stop and realize that she was hurting and distraught because of this whole situation. Because of him.

'I did this. I should have left before it got this bad. And now all these thoughts, all these doubts, all the arguments and fights she's had with her family, all those tears she shed after said disagreements, and the fight with that greedy and stubborn ass bastard was the last straw.' He had to make a decision.

And that was to leave. Leave that house and leave the one woman who knew him better than anyone else ever could.

It was one of the most difficult decisions he's ever had to make. He had to do what was best for her. He blamed himself for letting it go on and on. He would cry if he hadn't already run dry hours ago.

Just then, his cell vibrated. As much as it pained him, he couldn't answer it. He knew that ringtone. She was calling him. Almost every hour since he left. The last time he saw her face was in his rearview mirror as he drove away, was one of pain and grief. She collapsed on that lawn, watching him. And that image would sear and torture his mind for who knows how long. InuYasha didn't want to ignore her. His claws were aching to press that talk button, like every time he heard her ringtone.

He watched the device until it stopped. Until it showed another missed call. The 16th missed call from his girlfriend.

Deciding to try and and least do something productive than wallow in self pity anymore, he shut off his phone and headed towards his shower. Thank Kami he didn't have to go to classes today, otherwise he'd be missing a ton of work. He shook his head as he shed his clothes and turned on the showerhead until he was drenched in hot steaming water. Not even the usual exciting thought of photography and exploring beyond his backyard could get him out of his sullen mood.

It was the sixteenth time she called him. And it was the sixteenth time he didn't answer. But she still gripped her phone like it was the only hope in getting in touch with him after last night's fiasco.

Last night could be considered the only time she could recall mentally shutting down. After she saw his car turn the corner of her street, she closed her eyes and let the tears rain down. She heard the voices of her cousin and younger brother and in the distance her mother's. She was unaware of them hauling her up and directing her back into the house. She shrugged them off and headed right for the stairs to her room. Kagome didn't cast anyone a glance. And she didn't want to see anyone after she closed and locked her door.

She fell onto her bed and pulled the sheets up. Reaching for her phone she held it close as well as her plush Inu, her sole comforts. It was completely dark save for the small light on her dresser. Her shades were drawn thus not allowing outside light to pierce her depression. Occassional knocks on her door and the different voices calling her name didn't faze her. She covered her ears, blocking everything out. She didn't want to hear anything or anyone.

Her eyes shut again at another failed phonecall. Sleep was impossible because she didn't want to no matter how much her body craved it and the other reason was the argument downstairs. Her mother's usual calm tone was replaced with the one she'd only used when she was downright pissed off. She could occasionally hear her step-father's voice but it was always cut off. It had been going on for sometime and she was sick of hearing it.

All she wanted was one person, for that one person to hold her, to make it all go away and stay away. But that one person was not even talking to her anymore. And that's what tore her heart to shreds.

"What am I going to do?" Her voice was hoarse and scratchy. She sniffed before moving her head to glance at the few framed pictures on her bedside table. One was of her and Souta with her father at an amusement park before he died. Smiles and ice cream painted faces suggested that they were having a blast. The second smaller one was of her group. She was flanked by Sango and Ayame and behind them stood Rin, Miroku and behind her, her silver haired savior. It was during last Christmas before Rin took off for a year.

And the last one, was a vertical one of just her and InuYasha. A tear slipped from her eye as she recalled that one memory. It was this past summer, they were walking hand in hand on a dock as the sun set behind the Pacific. A local photographer asked if they wanted a photo and with their permission, snapped a perfect memory. They were embracing each other behind the sunset, while InuYasha rested his head against hers, both smling as the sea breeze whipped their hair around them…

The repetitive ticking of her bedside clock echoed in time with her heartbeat. Her vision was blurry enough to not see the time but didn't care enough to try to. Her stomach called out in hunger and her eyes were swollen with tears, her head throbbed with an ongoing headache. It didn't seem real that her hanyou wasn't even taking her calls, all because he thought it wouldn't cause her anymore hurt or quarrels with her family.

She knew he always had her well being and interests in mind, and tried his damndest to make her happy. But this was only ripping her further apart, and not only her but himself too. Probably more than her.

Her room grew darker as night approached. After letting Rin drag her from bed, made her take a shower and get some food in her gut, Kagome could say she was physically better than before. But her mental and emotional state weren't. Aside from her cousin and her brother, Ayame and Sango came in for a while to talk. The two listened as Rin told them what happened, with the end narrated by the struggling Kagome. Sango, patting her friend's arm informed her that Miroku was on his way to InuYasha's place to see if he could do anything for him. Kagome sighed, knowing that her boyfriend too needed support. She was going to find some way to get back to him.

Wait a minute…she wasn't restricted by any means. She knew the way to his house like the back of her hand, she had her bike, she had her phone-why was she just sitting here like a lost puppy instead of going out there and getting her man back?

The girls were skeptic when Kagome said she was heading to Inuyasha's tonight. Of course she was understandably upset about the whole feud and all, but that didn't mean she had to lay there and take anymore sympathy and lonliness. She was berating herself for not realizing it sooner. She would sneak out from her window later, drop to the ground, grab her bike and make a beeline for cabin in the woods.

Ayame asked about her mother and Yoshiro, but her friend was set on going. She didn't want to hear the fighting anymore and was tired of doing nothing. So let them worry. Her mother might call when she discovered her missing. Yoshiro was probably in deep shit with her mother and therefore would question himself why he let this happen.

Rin promised her determined cousin to call her in the morning, knowing that the night would belong to her cousin and the hanyou, and them alone. She was sure Kagome could take care of herself. If not, she would call the hanyou's house herself, or his cell phone whichever came first. Ayame and Sango also swore to call their best friend sometime tomorrow.

The four women then came in for a group hug.

And exactly a half hour to midnight, a stealthy female figure carefully crept down and found her bike to race in the cold and cloudy night in pursuit of her boyfriend, not caring about what she might be in for when she got there.

Rain started pelting the windows, which caused the hanyou to rouse from his one hour slumber. After a couple hour's chat with an unexpected visitor, Miroku, Inuyasha admitted he felt a hell of a lot better getting that burden off his chest. And with some forcing on his part by Miroku, he ate a few cups of ramen to sate his growling stomach.

Staring at the red device for a long time on his dresser, after turning it back on to see two more missed calls, he finally turned off his phone for good hours ago after a total of eighteen missed calls from Kagome. He just couldn't take it anymore. Rubbing his eyes after such a stressfully mental day, the hanyou concluded that one hour of sleep was all he was going to get. He just couldn't sleep with all the daunting thoughts in his head.

Swining his sweatpant clad legs over to the side of his bed, he tried thinking of something to occupy his time. If Kagome were here…

He shook his head vehemently. 'Get over it man, you don't deserve her. Not after all the tears and emotional turmoil you put her through.' He subconsciously rolled his left shoulder to get the kinks out. 'And if she's smart, she'll listen and stay there.'

But is what he wanted? It definitely wasn't what she wanted and he knew there was a slim chance of her actually listening to him.

'She's quite stubborn. But she's also just as fragile. I can't bear to see her looking so broken anymore.' Getting up, he opened the curtains of his window and stared at the dusky woods getting drenched in cold rain. He let his forehead touch the cool glass as his eyes scoured the woods he called home. No movement, no color, no girl with her sketchpad in the tree leaning against the closest tree.

Her scent was cloaking his bed as well as his pillow. The leftover fumes of her paints and enticing perfumes occupying the lone dresser along with his cologne permeated the house, as if taunting the poor guy for no longer having what he wanted, like a lost boy loosing his favorite blanket.

He chuckled darkly. In a way, he was close to loosing that blanket, one that offered him nothing but hope and security.

'My life is so fucked up.' Shaking his head at the outside world he pulled himself up and decided to see what could keep his mind away from a certain sophmore teen.

The rain was mild at best so he was still able to hear over it. And as he was on his way to the kitchen, he stopped in mid step. It was very faint but he thought he could hear squeaking.

"What the hell…?" His ears tuned in more to the sound, confirming that it was squeaking and getting louder each moment. Then he started to pick up a heartbeat, one that was pounding furiously.

With his eyes narrowed in suspicion, he rushed for the door, slammed it open and stood on the porch shielded from the rain in order to assess the mysterious newcomer.

"It better not be a robber or any stupid shit like that otherwise he's going to get his ass kicked." His voice was deep and low, and very serious. No one showed up on his property close to midnight. Except if they wanted to cause trouble.

Cracking his knuckles in preparation for a possible confrontation, the hanyou was halted when he saw something moving at a moderate speed through the trees. It was hard to tell exactly what it was because of the falling rain, but he confirmed it was a small figure…looking to be riding on a bike heading towards him with a light to guide them…The perons's heartbeat grew louder in his ears and soon he was able to see the figure more clearly, as well as hearning their voice.

He might as well as have froze right there. He couldn't feel the wind on his bare skin or the chilling rainfall wetting his hair, ears and his body. He didn't care if his feet were soaked in mud. No, because heading his way, in the night and rain, panting for breath soaked to the bone was the one person that haunted his every thought and dream.

"Kagome…"

As soon as she came within several feet, Kagome wasn't surprised to see her hanyou there in apparent shock. Coming to a stop and letting her bike fall, she straight to him and sprung into his arms were he caught her, letting the rain and her tears fall on his skin.

He hugged her close. His claws held her head and around her waist as he felt like nothing could be better than this. Of course he was relieved that she was here and back in his arms, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to let her off the hook.

But for now, he relished in her company, kissing her face and nuzzling in her drenched black locks. He could feel her shaking, both from the cold and the crying. He scooped her up and kissed her frozen lips before letting her rest on his shoulder and carried her back into his house, all the while letting his own heart beat in harmony with hers, as it always does when she was with him.

He had his artist back and that was enough.

"Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place." - Zora Neale Hurston

Not very long and probably not my best, but who knows... there might be a lemon next chapter huh?

Until next update...

Sayonara!