You all thought it wasn't possible… you said I couldn't do it… I laugh at you! Especially beady and livvi!!!! I UPDATED!!!!!!!!!!!! SO THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In under a week, too… wow, I'm getting better at this… ^.~

Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers! I love you all!!! I just have one request: I love your reviews and all, but please, I know my story, so there's no need to tell me what's happening, k? Questions are welcome (though I won't answer), even flames, and I'd love criticism, but don't repeat my story to me! Thank you!

Anywhoo… On with the story! This is the chapter you've all been waiting for!

Chapter 9

Inu-yasha

A dead silence fell in the hallway after Kagome stopped screaming. A fluttering of paper was heard at the end of a hall, but no one moved. Then whispers started. But Kagome didn't notice. She was sobbing again.

And she was still crying, her small body folded over her knees, when Takuya found her.

'Oh kami-sama… I didn't realize she was in such a bad condition!' Takuya thought as he approached her. He touched her back, trying to get her attention, but she didn't seem to feel it. Takuya turned to nearby students, asking what had happened. Most of them didn't know, but then a girl from the drama class stepped forward. Her locker was right next to the sobbing Kagome, so she had seen everything. Takuya instructed everyone else to get to class, while he talked to the girl.

Kagome just sat there, still curled over her knees and sobbing, waiting for the horrid things to stop. Sango and Miroku were both here, but neither of them knew who she was… at all… or was she hallucinating? Had she actually gone crazy? Her body continued to tremble with sobs.

"Damn…" Takuya had now heard the whole story, and he felt terrible. This was just one helluva day!

"Ok, Kagome… come with me please. Kagome…" he touched her back again. "Come on Kagome."

Kagome still didn't respond. She just kept crying.

Takuya stood in indecision. He couldn't just leave her here, but he really needed to get help for her. Then, his salvation came. A lone student, obviously lost, came around the corner, grumbling about how stupid the classrooms were because he couldn't find them. Takuya quickly called to the boy.

"Excuse me! I really need your help!"

"What?!? Why? I'm already late for class! I-"

"This is an emergency! The tardy won't be held against you, I promise. I'm a counselor, so I can freely enlist your help."

"Fine, fine, what do I have to do?"

"Just stay here and watch this girl. Make sure she doesn't go anywhere." Takuya looked at Kagome one last time. "It looks like she might be going into shock. Try and comfort her if you can…"

"Is she hurt or something? I don't see any blood…"

"She has some mental problems, and she's had a severe breakdown. I need to get her some help right away. Just stay here, I'll be back as soon as the help arrives!" Takuya yelled as he sprinted down the hall.

However, it would turn out that Takuya's 'salvation' would really be the exact opposite…

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Throughout all of this, Kagome had not heard a word. She merely lay there, her mind now completely empty. Her mind was so shocked that she just felt empty and frightened as she lay panting on the floor, eyes drained of tears.

The boy looked at the girl. Comfort, especially to a stranger… well, ok, anyone… was definitely not something he had in mind. He was above such things.

But then he looked closer, and did something that surprised even him.

He started to walk towards her.

There was something about this girl… the sight of her so broken up touched something deep inside him. He couldn't say quite what it was. He carefully walked over to her, cautiously approaching so as not to scare her.

"Hey… hey, girl… um, everything's ok… well, not really, but…" he continued to ramble like that, with no real point or comfort in his voice. It was rather gruff, and he was very tempted to shut up. However, he reached over and gently tapped her shoulder.

Kagome was so lost in her emptiness that it took her a while to realize that someone was speaking to her. Not that she particularly cared. She was empty, with no emotion at all to fill the gap.

Or so she thought.

The voice that floated down to her, distant though it seemed to her ears, sounded familiar. It sounded like…

'No! It can't be!'

Still in an empty daze, Kagome looked up into the eyes of the boy who was attempting to comfort her.

Kagome's strained and shimmering eyes met with rather frightened, yet definitely concerned violet ones.

The boy blinked, then asked, "Hey, do I know you from somewhere?" He knew it wasn't the time or place, but it seemed that he'd seen her before, and not just around school. This was his first day, of course he hadn't seen her before!

Kagome moved her gaze from the boy's eyes. The first things she noticed were the twin locks of hair on either side, running right next to his face, while the rest of his black, silky hair was back over his shoulders. He had a handsome body, and was quite good looking.

Of course, she had always though he looked good. Even human, as he was now.

"I… Inu… yasha…?" Kagome asked weakly, still completely drained.

The boy pulled back slightly in surprise.

"Then I do know you?"

Kagome looked at the boy in front of her. Then, slowly, she reached up and touched his face. As she did so, he gave her that look that she knew so well - his 'I think your crazy' look. She merely cracked a weak smile. It was him. It was Inu-yasha.

"Do you remember…?" she asked, still with a dazed voice, but rather frightened still.

"… remember what?"

The smile faded off Kagome's face. Inu-yasha felt a twinge of hurt somewhere deep within him as the smile withered away.

"You've got to remember… please, you must be in there! Please! It's me, Kagome! Kagome who you traveled with, fought with! You saved me so many times! You must remember! Naraku, the Shikon no tama, Shippo, Sango, Miroku…" Kagome cried, as Inu-yasha started to pull away. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Please don't leave me alone."

Her eyes shimmered, but not a tear fell.

Something about her voice, and the strange necklace that this 'Kagome' wore (which seemed to be glowing slightly), brought on a surge of some feeling from deep within him, almost like a memory that was just out of reach.

Then, two tears fell from her eyes, one after the other. The feeling that Inu-yasha had just felt surged, and for a minute, he could have sworn he'd seen this before. Without realizing what he was doing, he grabbed her wrist before her tears hit the ground. Something inside told him that if he didn't do this, she might vanish.

Kagome, feeling the sudden contact, gasped and looked up at him again. He looked confused. Then he looked down at his arm, and quickly drew it away. What had come over him?

Inu-yasha looked back up at Kagome. He knew he'd seen her before, but where?

Kagome and Inu-yasha hadn't even heard the sirens as an ambulance approached to take her away. However, their moment was shattered when Takuya came running around the corner with two paramedics, ready for the worst. They were rather surprised to see the two staring at each other, but Takuya was definitely relieved to see that she had moved, even if she did still seem shocked.

Slowly, the trio approached the two. Inu-yasha seemed relieved to see them, for he was getting frightened. Kagome appeared to have not registered their presence, and was still staring at Inu-yasha, her eyes pleading with him to remember.

"Kagome? Kagome, come with us, please." Takuya spoke to her, but got no response; she continued to stare at Inu-yasha. "This is strange… What's your name? How did you get her attention?"

"She thinks she knows me, and she's trying to get me to remember something…" Inu-yasha said, leaning away from her slightly.

The color drained from Takuya's face.

"What's your name?"

"Inu-yasha…"

Takuya flinched. Of course! His watch student had to be the one with the name of the guy this girl thought she loved.

Meanwhile, the two paramedics walked towards Kagome cautiously, not wanting her to freak out. She didn't move as they laid hands on her, but as they started to drag her slightly, she resisted, and fiercely at that!

"No! No, leave me here! Inu-yasha, help me! Please, you've got to remember!" Kagome yelled as the paramedics managed to start to drag her away. She managed to slip away for a minute and run towards him, but this time she wasn't calling out. Actually, she seemed rather focused suddenly, and her dazed look was gone. She was searching his face. Then she asked something that caught him off guard.

"Do you… Do you remember… Kikyo?"

It was almost a whisper, but he heard her. His eyes went wide. How could she have known? Suddenly, her face blended with a scene from his head. The background changed, but her face, tear stained, yet tear-free, remained as it was. The scene seemed to be at night, because moonlight surrounded her, as well as another glow…

As soon as the vision came, it was gone. The paramedics had Kagome under control again, but she wasn't even trying to struggle. She was coming quietly, once again silent with pain and sorrow, as she had been for so long, walking at a normal pace, head down, her hair covering her face. Yet everyone felt strange, as though the air was being suppressed by something.

Kagome got down to where the ambulance was, but when she got there, she realized something. She wasn't crazy. She had seen that look in his eyes. Even if the memory had been started by Kikyo's memory… It didn't matter. No one remembered. Inu-yasha remember Kikyo, but not her. Tears started coming down her face again, but she couldn't stop them. Then the tears were accompanied by a sob, and then another.

Suddenly, she bolted. The paramedics hadn't expected this, and were caught so off-guard that she got away easily and had a good head start before they started the chase. Kagome ran into the park, where she had gone before. There were a lot of trees, and she quickly lost her pursuers. Of course, part of her escape was due to the miko energy that she was exerting in her sorrow, which was hiding her from them.

After a while, Kagome couldn't run anymore; or at least, not through the trees. She had hit herself on a couple, and bruises were forming. She went to back a ways, and then towards a path that she knew of. A snap of a twig warned her pursuers were approaching. She ran again, for now the trees were much fewer.

Suddenly, she burst onto a trail. She immediately started running as hard as she could. She was running faster than she had ever before, even when she had been in the feudal era - at a speed that would have impressed even Inu-yasha.

And then, quite suddenly, she ran into nothing and fell flat on her back with the wind knocked out of her.

Meanwhile, the 'nothing' that she had just run into start cursing colorfully, before saying something that caught her attention.

"KAGOME???????"

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Oh, I'm evil. Who/what did Kagome run into? Why did Inu-yasha remember Kikyo? Or did he?

Well, please review! This story's coming to a close, and I need to pick my ending (I have two options), but I need to know what u guys want. Sad or happy, everyone! I need to know ASAP!!!!! If you review, I'll give you an imaginary cookie! I've got a whole store from reviewing the stories of others! Koyo (my computer guardian and ultimate demon of rage) is eating them all the time, so they're going fast! Review!

Hoping for many reviews,

~~Koneko-chan~~