Chapter 52: Broken Pride

Momo, Izuru and Shuhei all look at each other, thinking that this is a joke. "You're kidding." Shuhei exclaims to the duo. Yumichika grooms his hair, "Afraid no, Shuhei, we've been assigned her to protect kagome because it turns out that Inuyasha has a mental breakdown. Zaraki decided that Unohana might know a thing or two about this kind of a condition." Ikkaku rests his sheath onto his shoulder. "Besides ever since Kagome has confronted the dead priestess, Kagome wasn't herself either." He adds the statement. Momo saddens her expression. "What's wrong?" Izuru asks her. "It's just that Kagome wasn't really herself when she came back. Captain Higurashi assigned us not to talk to her because if we brought the subject, she'd freak out. It's my understanding that this Kikyo woman has really done a number on them." She crossed her arms as she looks at the window of Kagome's bedroom.

Shuhei and Izuru could somehow feel such a pain; The betrayal from their own captains to weaken the Soul Society. "We might as well do our job." Shuhei demands as they each take a corner of the Shrine grounds.

Inside Kagome's bedroom, Kagome is sitting on her bed, with her back against the wall. She has her knees up while putting her head in her arms sobbing quietly. 'What kind of a person am I?' She asks her mind. Being in the state that she is, it'd be guessed that anyone she loved would try his or her best to comfort her but the one person in particular isn't there to do it.

A knock on her door gets her attention. "Who is it?" She asks as in she's not in the mood to talk to anyone period. "It's mean dear." Her mother replies as she opens the door a little so she can come in, and close it behind her. "Honey, I don't want to be on the sidelines to see you like this." Ai said as she takes a seat on the edge of the bed.

Kagome lifts her head to expose tear streaks on her face. "How can you tell?" Kagome asks as she wipes the tears off. "Honey, I'm your mother and it's my responsibilities to know the problems of my daughter. Even your father knows that." Ai grasps her daughter's shoulder in a comfortable position. "So what is bothering you since you came home?" She begs her softly.

Kagome sighs for a minute before speaking., "Mom do you think I'm a bad person?" She asks nervously. "What make you think that?" Ai asks back. Kagome closes her eyes, "I think I might've done a bad thing while I was in the Soul Society." Kagome explains her story, confronting Kikyo. After that she has never been the same ever since she came back.

Ai sighs, "Kagome if that's what you think of it, do you really believe that at all?" Kagome narrows her eyes, "It was really hard for me to tell Kikyo for the wrongs she did in the past, and allying with Naraku to Aizen's army. I thought she was the bad guy from the start, but I didn't want to tell Inuyasha about it because I'd be telling on her." She squeezes her eyes shut to stop new tears coming from falling.

Back in the Squad 4 Barracks, Inuyasha is trying to recover from him mental state, but it turns out that it's easier said than done.

Inuyasha's mind

Inuyasha is running through the darkness trying to find someone. "Inuyasha, help me!" A voice cries out for him. "Where are you, Inuyasha?" the voice continues on calling. "Kagome what's going on here?" Inuyasha calls back as he tries to keep on finding the girl. He gets her scent close by and rushes in that direction.

Inuyasha finds her lying dead on the ground. "Kagome. Kagome!?" He embraces her as if she's his lifeline. "You failed to protect her." A deeper darker voice comes into view. "How weak can you really be Inuyasha?" Inuyasha hears another voice, and yet it's his own but more a vulnerable. The area brightens up to expose to beings in front of him. The one of the left is his demon half while the one on the right is his human half. "What do you two want?" Inuyasha demands them. "Why do you think we're here?" The demon crosses his arms. "Honestly, man. You're more dense that you give yourself." The human does the same gesture. Inuyasha tilts his head. "So you never noticed it." The demon said to him. "Noticed what?" Inuyasha asks the demon. "Noticing the toughest decision of your life." The human knocks some sense of the guy. "What decision?" Inuyasha questions them. The demon and human look at each other with jaws dropped like Inuyasha is beyond stupid. "You were at your crossroads Inuyasha. You had explained to Kikyo about this situation and now you proven yourself for what she was really known for." The Demon states out the damn obvious scenario. Inuyasha looks down to the dead girl in his arms. "This is your possible future. Don't make it happen." The human warns him as the girl vanishes into thin air.

Inuyasha looks up to the two, "What do you mean?" He asks them. The Demon snaps his finger to project what's going on in Kagome's room. Inuyasha widens his eyes for he's really seeing. Kagome telling her mother about her confront with Kikyo. Realizing that Ai is trying her best to persuade daughter that it wasn't her fault. "Fix your mistakes." They both encourage him.

Inuyasha opens his eyes to find himself in a hospital bed. He turns his head to find Captain Unohana. "I see you're awake Inuyasha." She said to him with a smile. "How long was I out?" He tries to sit up. "Only for 4 hours." Unohana informs him. "Listen, I need to get back to the Higurashi Shrine." Inuyasha declares as he tries to get out of the bed despite the wires attached to his arms. "That's not a good idea, Inuyasha." Unohana softly disagrees with him. Inuyasha looks up to her with a confused expression, "Inuyasha, Captain Zaraki brought you here because he sense a lot of problems that involves your pride. What do you think your pride is?" Unohana kindly asks him. "My pride? I had one too many of pride throughout my life." He answers her honestly. "Tell me what your prides of your past." She encourages him.

Inuyasha thought thoroughly throughout his life for each pride he had. The first was obvious, to survive since his mother passed away. The second was trying to obtain the Sacred Jewel so he could be a full demon. But after witness his circumstances about it, he changed his pride to protect his friends. "I see. Inuyasha, you must know what's most important to you. Make sure nothing goes before it. It has to be your top priority." She suggests as she gives his dagger that Kurotsuchi made for him. "I believe a certain someone is waiting for you." She gets it to him.

Once grapping the weapon, Inuyasha's energy restore to normal as the wires vanished since their purpose is complete. He gets his Tetsusaiga and run out of the Squad 4 barracks to get to the outside. He unwraps the dagger out and commands, "Now unlock." He said as he turns it like a key as the Sinkaimon opens up for him. "Kagome, you and I are going to talk, and there's no turning back." He declares as he goes into the portal.