Micheyasha: Welcome to da fourth chapter of Broken Promises! Thanks to all the reivewers! Love ya all! Anyways, I know this chapter is short, but I wanted to get it up soon. So, enjoy!

Disclaimer: Micheyasha doesn't own Inuyasha.


Cruel and Unusual Punishment: Is This Hell?

Inuyasha couldn't take it. Kagome was staring at him straight in the eye, silently begging him to help her. He tried to speak but found that he was unable to. Kagome's eyes dropped shut and she started to tremble slightly.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha cried out in alarm "Are you alright?"

With what little strength she had left, Kagome cracked an eye open. Seeing this, Inuyasha relaxed a little.

'She's still alive. But she can't keep this up for much longer…DAMN!'

"Inuyasha…" Kagome whispered.

Turning his attention back to the wounded girl, he saw that she was attempting to sit up. Inuyasha gently picked Kagome up, allowing her to lean her head on his chest. Kagome seemed so small and helpless in her present state. It was almost heartbreaking to watch.

"Don't worry Kagome. You're not going to die. I promise." Kagome gave Inuyasha a humorless smile.

"You can't promise that Inuyasha." That single phrase triggered a wave of memories from the last new moon.

'I would never forget about any of you'
'You can't promise that Inuyasha. But it's nice to hear.'

"I love you Inuyasha." Kagome managed to croak out.

Inuyasha drew in a sharp breath. Did she still find it in her heart to love him? Inuyasha could feel tears welling up, but he refused to let them fall.

"Kagome I-"He never got to finish.

It had happened before he could stop it. Kagome was gone. Inuyasha looked down at Kagome, who was now limp in his arms.

'Kagome…Nothing matters now. Kagome is dead and it's all because of me!'

Tears running freely down his cheeks, Inuyasha held Kagome close to his heart and buried his head in her hair. All Inuyasha could see was a horrible mental image of Kagome, bleeding and crying as she fell into the fiery depths of hell.

'No…she doesn't deserve a fate like that. She shouldn't even be dead!'

Inuyasha was disgusted and ashamed of himself. He didn't want to become a demon anymore. His demon half was nothing but a merciless murderer. That's what Kagome had been trying to tell him all this time. But it was too late. He had gone and screwed his life up. Lost in his guilt ridden thoughts, he never noticed Kirara land behind him, carrying Sango and Miroku on her back.

Sango jumped off and stared at Inuyasha. He was hunched over something, and he appeared to be crying. Sango could see that his shoulders were shaking a little. Without waiting for Miroku, Sango ran towards Inuyasha.

"INUYASHA!" He turned to see an extremely worried Taijiya behind him.

"I'm so sorry Sango."

Inuyasha stood up so Sango and Miroku were able to see Kagome's broken shell of a body, lying in its own pool of blood. Sango stepped back, trying to refuse the terrible image. She didn't notice Miroku come up beside her.

"Is she really dead Inuyasha?" Miroku asked. His voice sounded hard.

Inuyasha looked back at Kagome's body and then answered.

"Yes…" Sango noted that Inuyasha seemed quite guilt ridden.

Had he killed her? Even if he had, she was partly to blame as well; she had sensed this would happen. She had even promised to protect Kagome if Inuyasha tried to attack her. But no. She had left with Miroku, leaving Kagome alone.

Sango started to cry, but she did nothing about it. Seeing this Miroku gently wrapped his arms around Sango's shoulder comfortingly. He didn't expect Sango to whirl around and bury her head into his shoulder and start sobbing.

Miroku could feel the tears as well, but he easily held them back. Both Sango and Inuyasha were crying- And they were two of the most powerful fighters in their group. He had to remain strong, somehow convince Sango that Kagome's death wasn't her fault. Nor was it Inuyasha's. What annoyed him the most were the facts that he was probably expected to bless Kagome's grave and give her 'easy trip to the afterlife'.

'Oooh, Inuyasha's not going to like that. But still, I've never seen Inuyasha cry like this.'

Almost instantly after those words crossed Miroku's head, Inuyasha swore and slammed his fist into the ground. Miroku couldn't tell if he was hearing things, or if something was wrong with Inuyasha's voice. He could hear a ragged voice crying out for forgiveness.

"I'm so sorry Kagome… It's my fault that you're dead. DAMN!" Inuyasha slammed his fist into the ground again, but this time he yelled out for the whole sky to hear.

"It's all my fault!"


Kagome weakly opened her eyes. Looking up she saw a silver haired figure bending over her, tears running down his face. She could hear him saying how sorry he was that he had killed her. This didn't make any sense. She was clearly alive. Wasn't she? She took another look and saw two more people standing behind the silver haired figure. One of them was dressed in black, her long hair tied up in a ponytail. She was crying into the shoulder of the man she was embracing. He had short black hair tied into a little ponytail. He was wearing long purple robes and he appeared to be the only one who wasn't crying. Who were these people? Kagome felt like she knew them, but she was unable to summon up any names or memories concerning them.

'What's going on? Why do those people think I'm dead?'

Kagome stood up. But by doing so she realized something was wrong. Something about this place was very screwed up. It was actually a very interesting concept. She stood up, but somehow her body didn't.

"This is a dream. It has to be a dream. This is too weird to be a reality"

"Oh it's a reality alright." An unfamiliar voice rang in Kagome's ears.

She turned around to see a girl, with long black hair and wearing a white robe sitting on a rock behind her.

"Who are you?" Kagome asked.

The girl ignored her question.

"Never mind that, who are YOU?" The girl replied, with a small smirk on her face.

Kagome froze. She found herself unable to answer. She had forgotten her name! The girl stood up and walked towards her.

"You can't answer huh? Typical. You are exactly like everyone else who comes down here."

"'Down here'? What are you talking about?" Kagome demanded.

The girl gave Kagome a smile that was pretty and terrifying both. Kagome stepped back and looked around in panic.

"You want to know why those people think you are dead? Because you are. Your life came to an end and now you get to spend the rest of eternity in hell."

Kagome backed away, stammering incomprehensibly. When she found her voice again, it was full of disbelief, shock and fear.

"Y-you ca-Can't be s-seri-ious!" The girl smiled again although it looked more like a smirk.

"Oh I'm serious. Dead serious, to be exact." She shook her head before continuing "My name is Ihsus. I'm a fish demon appointed as guardian of the underworld. My job is to tell people of their deaths and help them to accept it, now, do as I tell you and this will be painless and easy."

Kagome eyed her reprehensibly, but said nothing because Ihsus was about to give her the instructions. Ihsus began to walk around Kagome in circles talking quietly. It was actually quite creepy.

"Close your eyes," Ihsus murmured "Relax your body and concentrate your mind"

Kagome instantly found herself feeling half asleep, unable to concentrate on her surroundings. "Remember who you are" Ihsus' voice whispered through the fog. "Remember the one you love"

As Kagome heard these words, she kept seeing glimpses of herself traveling with a silver haired figure.

"Remember who you are" Ihsus whispered again "It's all inside you, but it can't re-emerge unless you let it"

A surge of memories hit Kagome at once, and she fell to her knees from the pressure. "My name is Kagome."

Ihsus nodded in approval. "Do you remember who the boy is yet?" Her tone was gentle and somewhat kind.

Kagome shook her head. "No I don't. But, I feel really strange when I think about him."

Ihsus blinked. "Like how?"

Kagome frowned. "I…I get this funny feeling in my stomach and when he comes close to me, I feel like I'm in the safest, most wonderful place in the world."

"Ahh love…" Ihsus sighed "I hate when this happens. I can help you see him again, if you remember his name."

Kagome racked her brains thinking hard. But the name continued to elude her efforts to catch it. Kagome sighed in defeat after a few minutes. "I give up."

Ihsus sighed as well. "People like you are so weak, it sickens me." These words were spoken so flatly that Kagome took a step away from her.

"What do you mean?" she demanded indignantly. Ihsus laughed but it was a harsh noise.

"That should be obvious. The answer is staring you in the face and you don't want to bother trying to figure it out."

Kagome glared at her, annoyed. This Ihsus was something strange. One minute she's gentle and sympathetic. The next she's telling you how weak and sickening you are. Kagome actually found this split personality interesting.

"Fine," Kagome said sound as irritated as Ihsus did. "I'll try one more time."

Ihsus grinned. "That's more like it!"

Encouraged, Kagome squeezed her eyes shut and focused on the image of the silver haired boy. Many memories flowed through her mind:
The day she found him pinned to a tree with an arrow, when he got angry because he thought she liked another boy (Bet you can guess who!), the first time she saw him turn human, the first time his attack had been reflected back at him, (KANNA!) the memory when he slashed at her with his claws and most recently the memory of him holding her tenderly against his chest.

That did it. Kagome's eyes burst open and she let out a gasp as her shoulder split, leaking blood. Ihsus stared at her, a little concerned, but not surprised in the least. "

I take it you remember now."

Kagome started to cry. "His name is Inuyasha!"

She remembered everything, from the day she released him from the tree to the day of her death. But the memories that stuck out were the promises he had made to her and the promises he had broken. Her lover was also her murderer. He had promised never to forget her, harm her and to always protect her. But he had kept none of those promises and now she was paying for it. There was no forgiving him. But did it really matter?

"Ihsus?" asked Kagome, addressing the other girl. "You said that I could see Inuyasha again, once I remembered who he was."

Ihsus nodded "Yes I did." She agreed. "Come with me."


Micheyasha: I'm sorry I took so long. I completely missed my March break deadline. Sorry! Anyways please don't be mad at me for what Kagome says near the end. Don't kill me! My next chapter should be up by April 30 (My birthday) R&R please. Oh yes, and to a review I got: Shippou is correct. But so is Shippo. The English dub version altered some name spellings a little. Other examples are Kikyou, Sesshoumaru and Kouga. The English took out some of the "U's" Does that clear it up?

Taiy-Chan: Review!