Author's Note:

I need to mention something for this story:

Kagome's ringtone is "Highschool of the Dead" by Kishida Kyoudan and the Akeboshi Rockets. It is also the opening theme to the anime Highschool of the Dead.

Also, I made Inuyasha a bit of an emotional little wimp near the end of the story. Deal with it.

-Fox Monster

The Blackest Rose

BOOM!

The pan fell to the ground and all the ramen spilled out. "Damnit, Kagome! Can't you do anything right?" Inuyasha's voice thundered. Kagome sighed. "Sorry, Inuyasha. Sometimes I'm going to make mistakes." she said calmly. Inuyasha was about to say something, but Sango cut in. "That's okay, Kagome. Shippo and Inuyasha and I can just go get some fish from the river, right guys?" she said, turning to them. They all nodded and followed Sango to the river.

"Its okay, Kagome. Inuyasha's just…"

"Tired?" she supplied.

"Yeah, tired." Miroku thanked her. They looked up at the sky and were immediately overwhelmed by thoughts. Miroku thought of the days of his youth, when he was so young and innocent…On the other hand, Kagome thought of her future. But both thought of love as well.

Miroku was a boy with potential. His father died when he was young, but Miroku stayed strong. He took after his father in looks, and his master in personality. He was a pervert, yes, he would always ask every pretty woman he met to bear his child, but that was because there was a void in his life: true love. He loved Sango with all of his heart, but he knew that she didn't love him back. She was always mad at him! "But then again, she stayed with me after that prince proposed to her…" he mumbled aloud. "Huh?" Kagome said. He had distracted her from her thoughts. "What? Nothing! Why do you ask?!" he replied, worried that she had already caught on to what he was thinking about. "Okay then…but if there's something you need to say, just know that I'm here for you." She put her hand on his shoulder. "Yeah, thanks." he smiled at her. She smiled back and turned away. He put his head on his hands. It hurt when Sango really thought about the proposal, but Miroku was ready to let her go. He knew it would be wrong to keep her to himself. He sighed and put the topic aside for later. He stared at Kagome, who seemed so deep in thought.

The stars twinkled in the sky above Kagome. "Why does life go on?" she thought. "After all, I'm no use to anyone. I'd be better off dead…" She shook her head and pushed those thoughts away. "What will I do after the jewel is completed? Maybe I'll just go home. After all, Inuyasha doesn't need me. But I'll come back to visit Sango and Miroku and Shippo and Kirara. They'll want to see me. Inuyasha will be too busy with Kikyo to even come back and say hi." She sighed. She walked off to the camp and left Miroku there, all alone. She picked up her bag and walked a mile to the well. She jumped in and didn't look back.

IN THE FUTURE…..

The next day, Kagome woke up and she felt like pure shit. She felt like she was going to throw up and her head hurt like hell. There was only one thing that would make her feel better: she had to cut herself.

Kagome slowly migrated into the hallway, and after making sure nobody else was around, she went back into her room and closed the door. She opened up the first drawer of her dresser and pulled out something shiny: her knife. Sota bought it as a birthday present for her, Kagome turned sixteen the week before. But he never knew that she would use it for something like this!

She held the knife in her hand and slowly cut her wrist. Bright, healthy-looking blood poured out of her wrist and her face scrunched up in pain. Tears stung in the corners of her eyes. "Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God." she thought. "Do I really want to do this?"

"Yureta genitsukan nakushita mama de. Gareki no you ni tsumi kasanaru kono kanshou wa doko e yuku?"

Her thoughts were interrupted when her phone rang.

She gingerly held the phone and pressed the 'accept call' option.

"Kagome! What's up? Listen, I know you must be studying, but can I come over to your place? I heard something about Hojo that you should know about!"

It was Eri. Kagome looked at her bleeding wrist. She tried not to let the pain show in her voice. But it hurt really badly.

"No, Eri. Sorry, I'm catching up on some homework right now. Maybe some other time, okay?"

"Sure." Eri hung up.

Kagome sighed and walked over to her window. She opened the window, looked at the phone in her hand, looked outside, back at her phone, back outside, and then flung her phone as far as she could fling it. Seconds later, she heard a crack and slammed her window shut with satisfaction.

"No need for material possessions!" she said aloud. "At least not anymore," As she sat on her bed, she threw the knife to the floor. She was having second thoughts about this. So what if Inuyasha didn't love her? He would eventually. All the boys did. And when he did, she would break his heart and move on, just like how he broke her heart all those other times.

"No." she thought. "I can't do that to him, even though he did that to me. I would be just as bad as him if I broke his heart as badly as he broke mine."

After a few more minutes of deep thought, she picked up the knife again. She held it to her neck…

"Wait," she said. "Most people write notes to their before they end it, right?" she mumbled. "I almost forgot…"

She sat at her desk. She sat there and sat there and sat there and sat there. She set down her pen and sighed. She rolled her eyes and put her head in her hands. She couldn't think of anything to write! Finally it hit her. The pain.

"Ouch," she mumbled. She picked up her pen and wrote and wrote and wrote until she was finished. Her wrist hurt like hell when she was done writing, but she read over the note a couple of times, she was satisfied. It was mainly about Inuyasha, but she felt as if her friends and family would understand. She tucked the note in her pocket.

Sitting back on her bed, she picked up the knife again; turning it in her hands…She stared at the note. Then at the knife. Then at the note…Then she held the knife to her throat. She shook. She was scared, but now she was sure that she wanted to do it. After all, why continue on with her life if she was only going to have her heart broken again and again? Why continue on if she knew she might die from an attack from Naraku? Why?

"Forgive me."

Carefully, she did it. A sigh of pain escaped her lips, but she was careful not to be loud. "It's finally over," she thought in that moment.

IN THE FEUDAL ERA…

"Damn…where is she?" Inuyasha mumbled.

"Relax, Inuyasha. She's probably just cooling off," Miroku said.

"Over what?!" Inuyasha screamed. Sango and Miroku shared a look and sighed.

"He'll never get it…" Sango thought. Shippo threw an acorn at Inuyasha.

"Hey! What was that for?" he said. Inuyasha punched the poor fox demon on the head.

"Ow! What was that for, Inuyasha?" the poor little fox said. Tears stung in his eyes.

"Oh, don't be such a baby!" Inuyasha said. Shippo scooted behind a bush and made sniffle noises. "Shippo…?" Inuyasha prompted.

Silence from behind the bush. Sango and Miroku couldn't help but giggle a little bit. Inuyasha glared at them. They glared back. Shippo peeked around the bush and Inuyasha punched him again. They all laughed, even Shippo. But even as they laughed, they couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing. That someone was missing.

LATE THAT NIGHT…

That night, all was still. Not one being stirred, not even a mouse. Except Inuyasha. He had been restless and couldn't sleep all throughout the night. His thoughts were on Kagome…He couldn't wait to see her again. Little did he know that he would never see her again. Alive, that is.

He felt angry. Kagome should be there beside him! His heart started beating faster and faster. Before he knew it, he was losing control of his body. His demon blood was taking over! He fought it, he fought it with all his might, but it was too strong. His human half lost to his demon half.

He ripped open his sleeping bag. He couldn't take it anymore. He wanted to see Kagome. He needed to see Kagome. He wanted her. He needed her. His goal was to take her, to mate with her. He wanted her to bear his pups…As he stood up; cold air greeted his shirtless body. But he didn't care. At this point, he was like a machine. He was a machine that walked like a zombie and moaned and growled Kagome's name in hunger and need…

"Kagome…Kagome…Kagome…"

His eyes were bloody red, fangs and claws sharp and intimidating, he subconsciously knew that he had lost his mind for the time being. He jumped through the Bone Eater's well and arrived in Kagome's time. He growled and stuck his nose in the air and he sniffed. He smelled Kagome. He smelled her blood; her sweet-smelling blood.

"Kagome…"

He made his way to the front door of her house. He kicked it down and continued up the stair to her bedroom door, where he collapsed on her body. The smell that came off of her body shot up his nose and it was so strong that he had to step back to regain his balance. It changed him back to his half demon self.

"What the hell is that?" he grumbled. He moved her head sideways. Blood! It was everywhere! It dripped down her chest, leaked through her clothes; it was even on her arms! And in her hand…a knife with dripping with her blood as well. How had he not noticed this the second he walked in?

"Kagome!" he whined. "No!" He pulled away from her. The blood was all over his clothes. "Gross…." he mumbled. He gingerly picked her body up off the floor and walked down the stairs, outside, and into the well.

Mysterious blue light surrounded them when they entered the well. A huge gush of air blew in their faces and suddenly they were on solid ground. Inuyasha grunted. He was home. He hopped out of the well and saw Sango and Miroku heading towards him from down the hill. He ran over to her.

"Sango!" he shouted. He tried to wave his arm but Kagome was there so he couldn't. Sango glanced at who was in Inuyasha's arms. Her eyes grew big as she saw Kagome.

"What happened?!" she screamed.

Inuyasha was fighting back tears by now. "I don't know. I just found her like this." He said quietly. Sango sighed.

"There's nothing we can do then." Her voice cracked. Inuyasha could tell that she was crying.

"What's your problem? Don't cry," Inuyasha said.

"Why? Because it reminds you of all the times you mad Kagome cry? You're a jerk! I hate you Inuyasha! I hate you! I hate you for killing my best friend!" Sango screamed. She got up and threw empty ramen cups at him.

"I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" She could've kept going, but she choked on her tears. She ran over the hill, towards the well. Both he and Miroku could hear her pounding her fists on the well and shouting curses.

"Oh, poor Kagome." was all Miroku could say. But Inuyasha could hear his breathe hitch and release as he held back tears.

"Kagome has had a huge impact on all of our lives." Kaede said at the funeral. Kagome's body had been placed in a fine coffin made of the best wood and preserving materials her friends could find.

Men from the village wanted to help lower her body into the hole dug for her, but Inuyasha growled when they got close to Kagome. And so, with his head lowered and a tear in his eye that he refused to acknowledge, Inuyasha laid Kagome's body to rest. He even took the time to find some of her favorite flowers, lilies, and put them in her resting place. And when they had put her body in the coffin moments before, he put a bright red rose in her hands. Of course, nobody expected this from Inuyasha, so everyone eyed him curiously.

"It seems I was right," Kaede mumbled," Inuyasha did care for Kagome."

The funeral ended with Kaede ordering the men to cover the coffin with anything they could find. So the men covered her coffin with dead grass and dirt and went back to their lives in the village. Sango and Miroku said their final goodbyes to Kagome and mad their way to the hut they were sharing with Inuyasha to rest. Meanwhile Inuyasha stared at the headstone and tried a hard as he could to forget her name. And when figured out he would never forget her, he joined Sango and Miroku in the hut. As he entered the hut, Miroku asked him if he was okay. Inuyasha ignored him and sat in the corner. Miroku and Sango shrugged it off and slept that night peacefully.

That night Inuyasha couldn't bear to be away from Kagome so he went up to her grave and sat next to it. He whispered her name over and over again.

"Why, Kagome, why?" he whispered.

"You bastard," a voice said.

He whipped around and saw Kagome. She still had such big, beautiful brown eyes, but they seemed dull and empty now. Her neck was bloody and her clothing too, but Inuyasha still wanted to be with her. To touch her. To make love her. To love her in general. (Haha, yes. I made him a sicko. He's an emotional train wreck, too.)

"Oh, Kagome. Please don't argue with me. I just want to see your face one last time and then you may rest." Inuyasha asked sincerely. His sincerity surprised her, but she nodded and let him go on.

"Well, I really don't know how to say this, but…I've always had feelings for you Kagome. And I don't know how to make things right. I just want you back, Kagome!" Inuyasha admitted. Her face only expressed shock. She was silent for a brief moment and then spoke.

"Well…if I see that you are doing only good things in my absence, it is possible for my resurrection…come back here when you feel my presence, or if I appear in your dreams. I'll be visible to only you so make sure nobody is around. Resurrection is a sacred art only to be used by the strongest priestesses, such as myself, Kikyo and Midoriko. You get the idea of such power that is needed to conduct such a task. Anyway, the only catch is that it must be done before I am reincarnated so that what happened with Kikyo does not happen again. Which we obviously do not want. Thus when I feel the time is appropriate, I will call you back and ask you to get Kaede. She will know what to do, but you will need to be there, too. Got it? Good. Now go get some rest." Kagome said. Inuyasha was surprised at her for being so direct, but he took her directness and went back to the hut. He turned around once, and she was gone.

In the hut, he lay down in the corner and tried to sleep, but his mind was stuck on what he had just seen. She appeared to him…as a spirit. How amazing! In his hand, he clutched the poem she wrote moments before her death. He stared at it with teary eyes and promised to keep it until she resurrected herself.

The poem read:

"Day after day the blackest rose wilts.

It trembles and trembles and loses another petal.

It loses its color,

Of the most delicious crimson blood.

And when autumn comes,

More petals continue to fall.

Down, down…

Until they reach the ground.

Day after day the blackest rose wilts.

It trembles and trembles and loses another petal.

Finally there is only one petal left of the rose.

There's just one more chance for someone to save it.

It feels alone in its dreary existence…

It has no comfort.

Its feelings mirror mine.

Day after day the blackest rose wilts.

Finally the last petal is starting to come loose.

Yes, there is just one chance for someone to embrace it.

One more chance for someone to save it.

But does anyone know who or what the rose really is?

The blackest rose is my heart.

It has been turned black from all the cruelty and hatred it has experienced.

Nobody knows, but I'm slowly dying inside.

And it's all because of him.

Him.

He, who once filled my life with such joy, is forcing me away.

But he doesn't know what he's doing to me.

He doesn't know that he is the reason I feel alone and forgotten and thrown away.

He drives me insane because I love him so much, but he just ignores me.

He always goes after that other girl.

The one that you can say is just barely alive.

But then again, I'm barely alive as well.

But if this continues, I won't be alive at all.

Day after day the blackest rose wilts.

And today is the day when the final petal falls.

The last chance has slipped by.

To save its life, to save my life as well.

And I suspect he has come just a second too late, as always.

But maybe he will enjoy the black rose I have left him."

Inuyasha crumbled the paper in his hands. Quietly, he slipped it in his sleeve. Sleep didn't come easily that night for him and he wasn't sure he could ever sleep again. Not with the burden of being responsible for Kagome's death, that is. And he knew he was.

Inuyasha realized in the early hours of the morning that Kagome was the reason that he learned to trust people again. He couldn't live without her. Inuyasha, for the first time in his life, cried, and didn't care if anyone saw him.

-Fin-