Inuyasha held Kagome's gaze and slowly- ever so slowly- leaned down. Kagome moved forward a bit, shyly, hesitantly and their lips met in a soft kiss. Inuyasha's hands trailed down and gripped her waist, pulling her flush against his body. She curled her arms around his neck and buried his hands in his sopping wet hair. The rain made the kiss slick and wet, making their lips slide together clumsily, but it was perfect all the same.

The world seemed to freeze around them, locking them in their own little bubble in which nothing could touch them. Moments passed and they pulled away from each other, faces flushed, eyes bright, smiling.

And then…

BANG!

They turned slowly, facing the shadows. Kikyo stood there, looking graceful as ever despite how she was just as wet as they were. Her chin was held up in a regal tilt and her arm was extended gracefully, hand easily gripping the silvery gun. A cold smile was on her lips, mirthless.

Inuyasha's eyes widened. Kikyo took several steps forward, easily stepping over the small puddles that were gathering on the concrete. "What…?" Inuyasha started but stopped when Kikyo cocked the gun and tightened her hand.

"You promised me forever, Inuyasha," she said, just loud enough for him to hear over the sound of rain and thunder. "She…" A horribly dark stare was focused onto the woman at his side. "…is ruining our love."

Kagome's weight was suddenly against him and she gasped loudly. He turned and saw her left side- near her waist, near her hips- was bleeding. She pressed a hand to the wound, making soft wounded noises in the back of her throat. That first shot must have hit her. Inuyasha felt rage consume and red covered his vision before another shot was fired. His vision cleared as he heard glass shatter near him and the sound of screams. The glass doors to the restaurant they had been in earlier were gone, broken by a shot.

"Pay attention, Inuyasha," Kikyo commanded, moving the gun gracefully and tilting it just so that it was pointing at Kagome. Inuyasha stepped in front of the wounded girl, growling darkly. Kikyo laughed, bringing a hand in front of her mouth delicately.

"Are you going to protect her from me?" she asked, a mad lilt to her voice, but still soft and haughty nonetheless. "Whatever happened to you protecting me, Inuyasha? You told me that once."

Inuyasha could remember the time he did say those things. Saying that their love would be forever and he would always protect her, but now things were different. He could feel Kagome slump against him, feel how one hand was pressed against her side, how the other was grasping his arm.

Several patrons of the restaurant hesitantly stepped out and gasped when they saw the wounded girl. Kikyo's cold eyes flickered over to them and Inuyasha took that moment. He ran forward and gripped the hand that held the gun. Her eyes widened before she pressed against him, murmuring, "I knew you would see you wanted me."

His grip on her wrist tightened and she gasped, mouth parting, eyes going wide and filling with pain. Her hand loosened and she dropped the gun where it landed to the concrete with a clatter.

His eyes went to Kagome for a moment. She was on the ground now, leaning against the building and a woman was holding a thick cloth to the wound, ignoring the way blood was slowly seeping into the cloth.

Kikyo took an involuntary step backwards. "You promised," she whispered.

Inuyasha didn't have time to answer because several police cars and an ambulance pulled up.

Sango sighed as she leaned against the plastic chair. They had gotten the call earlier and all of them- Sango, Miroku, Rin, and Sesshoumaru- had headed towards the hospital as soon as possible. Miroku was getting some painkillers for her because she had started crying and it had caused a headache and Rin was sitting in another chair next to her. Sesshoumaru had gone into the emergency room to try and drag Inuyasha out several minutes ago.

There were several loud BANGs and crashes that came from Kagome's room. Rin started to get up, but Sango held a hand out and stood up instead. She walked over to the room and opened the door only to find Inuyasha crouched over the bed Kagome was on with Sesshoumaru and several other doctors and nurses surrounding him.

Inuyasha was different though. His eyes weren't gold, but a deep turquoise color with red surrounding the iris. There were two jagged purple-red marks on each cheek, similar to what Sesshoumaru had, yet not as clean as Sesshoumaru's.

He was growling deep in his throat and was glaring darkly at Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru easily dashed forward and threw Inuyasha so the younger one went flying through the doors. Sesshoumaru strode forward and passed Sango.

Once into the hallway, Sango could see how Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru were fighting, Inuyasha to get to Kagome, Sesshoumaru to keep his brother from getting into the room. The fight raged on with many walls and windows getting busted- people had fortunately picked up that they could do nothing and stayed out of the way.

The fight didn't stop until Miroku came forward and whacked Inuyasha on the head with a really large plastic staff. The plastic cracked but Inuyasha's eyes went wide, reverting back to normal, and fell forward.

Sango raised an eyebrow. Miroku rolled his eyes and dropped the staff. "I found it in a closet. I thought it would work."

Sango shook her head and walked off, getting a small first aid kit so Rin could patch up her husband.