A/N: Thank you guys so much for the reviews! It really motivated me to keep the story coming. You guys are great!

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A Glimpse of the Soul

Everything was a bit on the peculiar side as Inuyasha began to regain consciousness. He caught a strange scent in the air that seemed very familiar but he couldn't quite place it. His ears funneled in the sounds of arguing performed by a chorus of male voices. Who did those voices belong to again? They were so annoying…

Inuyasha's eyes shot open as he realized that Koga's lackeys had made an appearance. They seemed to be attempting to convince him to go back to the den. He heard the argument begin to escalate in both vigor and volume, so he let out a loud groan to silence the idiots.

Everyone turned to him with stunned eyes, and within moments Kikyo and Sango were at his side. They asked him about his pain level, nausea, dizziness, blah, blah, blah. Inuyasha rolled his eyes dramatically but when he attempted to sit up he realized that perhaps their concern was not unfounded. A glance down at his long locks and it was revealed to him that he was only about half-way back to his normal state. With a salt and pepper head of hair and half formed dog ears, Inuyasha was struggling to endure the outrageous amount of blood he had lost.

He began to remember how he had ended up on the ground, drenched in blood, and ¾ human. An enraged growl permeated the air when he realized that the attempt at contacting Kagome had more than likely failed because of his rash actions and weak human blood. Finally, after a minute or two, he was able to sit up successfully and was instantly face to face with the wolf.

"This is your fault idiot." Koga hissed. "If you weren't so weak and stupid this woulda worked and we'd have Kagome back by now!"

Inuyasha closed his eyes and whispered, "I know."

Needless to say, Koga was taken aback. That was certainly not the reaction he had expected from the mutt. He huffed and plopped down from his crouching position as he rubbed the back of his head in an uncomfortable manner. He looked uneasily at Inuyasha and tried to think of something reassuring to say, but before he could muster up the confidence to comfort his "enemy," Kikyo spoke up.

"Actually," she said, "I do not think it was not going to work. Koga nearly lost consciousness himself, and he was not even as hasty as you, Inuyasha." She sent a lazy glare Kogas way before continuing. "Kagome was becoming more distant from us. I do not know what pulled her away, but it would've taken far too much power to reach her."

Inuyasha found it hard to believe that Koga had nearly lost consciousness. After all he had JUST been fighting with what sounded like a lot of spirit. He glanced at the other demon's face and realized just how pale and exhausted he looked. He had to admit, he was a little relieved that he was not the sole reason for the failure.

"So what can we do? There's got to be another way to get her back, right?! What about Sesshomaru? He can bring her back with Tenseiga!" Inuyasha suggested, looking a little enthusiastic. Miroku, Sango, and Shippo looked at him as if his brain had crawled out of his ear and walked off on its own. For him to suggest asking Sesshomaru for help, after all, was not any crazier.

Kikyo shook her head sadly. "No, her soul is within my body. The sword will be unable to recover her because her soul is already in use."

Inuyasha bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from shedding more tears. The last of his black hair was finally fading back to silver and suddenly he was able to identify that familiar scent. He looked up at the clouds, his face scrunched up in confusion.

"Sesshomaru?"

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"What are you doing here?" Kagome asked. She was absolutely stunned to see Inuyasha's half-brother before her with two human children in tow. The sullen man seemed to refuse to acknowledge her presence and she huffed in irritation.

'That's just like Sesshomaru. Ignore me even when he should be surprised to see me."

She turned her attention to Kohaku and Rin. "Kohaku! What are you doing here? How did you get here? And where, exactly, is here?" She exclaimed rapidly. Kohaku, too, did not even bat an eyelash at her unexpected appearance. It was then that she realized that they could not see or hear her.

Now, this was a new type of panic for Kagome Higurashi.

She did not expect anything in her afterlife. She expected not to have an afterlife at all! Well, perhaps a small part of her thought that she would somehow end up in a heaven/hell scenario… but mostly she thought it would be nothingness. She was not mentally prepared to be some sort of ghost where she could see people but people couldn't see her! Was this seriously what she had become?! Was this what she was doomed to do for the rest of eternity- watch people as they went along merrily in their everyday lives? What was next, receiving a chain to rattle and a white sheet to cover up with?! Maybe this actually was hell.

Her. Own. Personal. Hell.

Through her panicked haze, Kagome nearly missed the fact that Rin wasn't moving at all. She nearly missed the fact that the "path" that Sesshomaru was walking on was not a path at all, but an empty void that he was somehow able to step on. She nearly missed Kohaku slow his speed and shoot a panicked glance back towards the girl he was carrying on his back.

Nearly.

Kagome's emotions went in quick succession from shear panic to relief that she was not, in fact, a ghost destined to haunt he former acquaintances, back to shear panic as she realized that Rin was not breathing. At all.

Kohaku seemed to read her mind as he hesitantly said, "Lord Sesshomaru… Rin isn't breathing."

This was the very first time that she had seen this much anxiety from the great lord. She rushed to Rin instinctually, but realized that she couldn't even touch the girl, let alone save her life. How did Rin die? How had these three gotten into the same expanse she inhabited without being dead themselves?

Unable to even ask for these answers, she stayed by the girl's side as Kohaku followed Sesshomaru's orders to lay her down on the ground. She felt an odd sensation as the demon reached for the hilt of his sword. She was too concentrated on this feeling to notice that as soon as he withdrew his blade, he looked straight at her.

"Girl," Sesshomaru said in his usual cold tone, "what is the meaning of this?"

Kagome's eyes snapped up to his because, after all, it's not as though he was talking to Rin and she was the only other girl there. To her knowledge anyway.

"Y-you can see me?!" She cried.

Sesshomaru squinted at her as if she had lost her mind. "I will say this only once more. Explain yourself or I will not hesitate to end your pathetic human life."

Kagome responded with a wry smile.

"It's a little late for that."

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A/N: How do you like it so far? The next chapter will be up within a week! I'll do my best to hurry!