Hey guys! I'm back with my new story, so much better than the first one by the way and I will be updating about every few days depending on how many reviews I get, you know how it goes, so since my other story was basically shot down considering I only got 2 reviews, which is okay because it wasn't that great anyways, I am going to have to regret telling you that I will not update unless I have at least 3 reviews! I'm sorry but seriously, fellow authors know that when you don't get reviews that your self-esteem goes really down. I have promise for this story and I hope it goes really well. Sorry for the short chapter by the way, it's the first one kind of an introductory if you will, longer chapters will be on the way! Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the other characters mentioned except for the ones I myself have made up!

Chapter 1 Broken

The sun was shining, the day was happy, well, that is except for one lonely miko. The beautiful day was completely contradicting of the mood she was having. The reason being that Inuyasha had gone to see her again. Every time he left, a little part of Kagome left with him; a part she would never get back. It had all started when the gang had heard a rumor about a shikon shard in a southern village. It was getting towards sunset and Miroku had decided that he had sensed an "ominous cloud" hanging over one of the houses. And of course it had nothing to do with the fact that it was the hugest house in the village, of course not. They were just about to head inside when Kagome had seen one of Kikyo's soul collectors in the forest. Immediately she was very upset, she knew Inuyasha would go to see her. He always would, no matter where they were, or what condition they were in, he would always find her. It hurt her every time she saw them, and for some odd reason she always kept following them. It was like she was being beckoned to them, having to watch them proclaim their love for each other while a piece of her heart broke away every time. She often wondered what would happen when there was none left to break. Kagome wondered about many things, the future, and their upcoming battle with Naraku, what she was going to do after the jewel was finished. These thoughts plagued her mind day and night, and it just seemed they wouldn't go away. She had been with them for over three years now. She was now about 18 and realized that she would soon be old enough to withdraw herself out of school, which was good in a sense because she didn't have time for her other life back in her era. It just wasn't working out. He friends all thought she should be dead by now, as awful as that sounds, she has had so many "diseases". And she knew that pretty soon it would be the time for her to drop out. After that she didn't know what she was going to do. She felt she didn't belong there anymore, almost like she never did. The things she use to do don't interest her anymore. Boys, music, the hottest clothes, nothing, everything just felt dull compared to the feudal era. She had even considered staying in the feudal era once the jewel was complete. And that is even if Inuyasha did go to hell with Kikyo. In her mind he would always be with her, she loved him, and at least in the feudal era, she would have a little part of him when he left. She would miss her family dearly, but that world was just not her world anymore. (But back on to the story…) The minute Inuyasha had seen Kikyo's soul collectors, he immediately thought of something he needed to take care of. Kagome and the others were all thinking the same thing… 'Who does he think he's fooling?' Kagome had almost instantaneously become withdrawn, and everyone knew the process by now. Inuyasha would leave for Kikyo; Kagome would become depressed until he got back; when Inuyasha eventually came back Kagome would go from depressed to angry and they would start a yelling match that ended with a few "sits" and then she would go home. Although, Inuyasha couldn't have picked a worse time to leave if he had even tried…

"Kagome! Run!" Miroku had apparently yelled just in time too, because right where Kagome had been standing a minute ago the huge demon had hurled a huge tree there.

"This demon just won't give up!" Miroku by this time was completely out of breath, every time they hacked a piece off of this thing, he would have to use his wind tunnel to suck it up. And then, it would all be vein because it would grow right back! It was a long and torturous process.

"Where is Inuyasha when you need him?" Sango had been trying to lead the demon away from the village. Shippo, had been left in one of the village houses, hiding so he would not be hurt. The group didn't want any villagers or Shippo to be injured. But with no such luck, the demon was apparently not as dumb as he was suppose to be and knew exactly what they were all doing. Through all of this though, the demon only had one thing on its mind…the shikon shards.

Inuyasha had been running for a little while now, he was still following Kikyo's soul collectors. He hated having to keep going to her like this, in all reality he knew he didn't love Kikyo, he knew this for a fact. He also knew who he did love. 'Kagome'. His thought's immediately brightened with just the thought of the miko's name. He loved her with all of his heart, and it is kind of funny when you figure out that he knew this from the start. (haha it rhymed!) He remembered the day when he first fell for Kagome. It was about three years ago when she had just fallen down the well. Immediately he had thought she was Kikyo, but soon after figured out that she was a whole different person entirely. After that dark priestess had brought Kikyo back to life he knew that he loved Kagome, as odd as it sounds. He had soon realized that they were two completely different people, and that is just how he wanted it. Kagome was energetic, fun, kind, spontaneous and so much more. Kikyo was just filled with hatred now, and darkness. At first he had thought that this was just because Kikyo had been resurrected and now she was different. But, then he realized that that even before she died, she had still had some darkness in her heart, of course, she wasn't as dark as she was now, by no means. However, she would always complain about having to be the priestess to watch over the jewel and how she just wanted to be a normal woman. Once she had even asked him to turn human just so she could be free. He had considered it as well; he thought he was in love at the time. It turns out that both of them were just very lonely and needed a friend. But, really how strong could their feelings have been for one another since Naraku had tricked them so easily? It was now that he realized he loved Kagome. Kikyo had wanted him to change, she had only been thinking about her self at the time, Not to mention when they would meet it would always be in private, giving off the sense that she did not want to be seen with him. She didn't like being seen with a hanyou and Inuyasha felt so stupid for believing he had ever loved her. 'I can't believe how stupid I was, she was only using me. Kagome has always stayed by my side; always helped me through everything. Kikyo has only tried to kill me, and change me. I never really loved Kikyo; I was just desperate because no one would except me. Now though, people accept me, more so anyway, and it's always because of Kagome.'

He always felt bad for leaving her. He knew she didn't like it when he left to go with Kikyo, he knew it! He also knew that Kagome felt something for him, he was rest assured though she would never be able to love him as much as he loves her. 'That's if she even loves me.' Inuyasha had to admit, he pretty much knew his love was a one-sided ordeal, but he would always love her. Inuyasha knew Kagome cared about him, but she would never be able to love him, for he was just a stupid half-breed. Sometimes though, he thought he would see some unknown emotion flicker in her eyes, or the way she would just watch him while she thought he wasn't looking. It was odd, but Inuyasha enjoyed it when she would just look at him, he couldn't tell what her eyes were trying to tell him, but he knew that he would always be there to love, care, and protect for her. He also knows that it seriously hurts her every time he went off to see Kikyo. (a/n: gee he knows lots of things)But he had to. It was his duty, a duty he didn't like doing, but nonetheless it had to be done. He would see what she wanted and then leave, there would be nothing else, that was the extent of their conversations now. Kikyo would of course always try to do something more, but Inuyasha, to be honest, really didn't want to have anything to do with it. He had promised he would protect Kikyo and get revenge for what happened to them, but he would not keep his other part of the promise. He will not go to hell with her. He wanted to live, to be free for once, and not have to worry about anything, anything that is except for Kagome. After all of this was over he decided that he would ask Kagome to be his mate, he was so nervous, but he wanted to. After Naraku was gone and Kikyo put to rest, then he could finally be with Kagome. That thought alone kept him going each day.

He stopped in the middle of the forest where there was a clearing. It was very, majestic, you could say. There was a small waterfall that went into a little pool of water, a small lake possibly. The rocks that surrounded the clearing had the waterfall coming down off of them with sakura blossoms growing out of the cracks. The clearing was canopied by trees with only a little bit of moonlight showing through, which it was a full moon by the way. This gave it a kind of florescent glow that was, well it just was a setting that one would enjoy, but Inuyasha was far from enjoying being there. Kikyo was standing by the waterfall, she may have looked beautiful standing there in the middle of this scenery 'but not as beautiful as Kagome', at least that's what Inuyasha thought.

"Hello Inuyasha, I knew you would come to me."

"Kikyo." Inuyasha really did not know what to say to her anymore. He was silently asking the question "Is there something you needed" without having to actually say it. Plus, he was a little eager to get back to Kagome; he missed her already, that and the fact that he didn't like leaving her alone, 'that wench will never be able to take care of herself.' Inuyasha thought with an inward smirk.

"I just wished to see you, and see how you were doing. That is all." She had inadvertently answered his unasked question and now he just wanted to leave, it was getting kind of unsettling being there with her. This wasn't how it used to be. He wandered how things could have changed so much? Had he been the one to change? Or was it her? He knows he does not love her, but they could have been friends, or at the very least acquaintances, they did not have to be enemies. They had had somewhat of a relationship very long ago, and that is something one does not forget so easily. But now, it just wasn't the same, and he had a feeling that it never would be like it had been. That thought saddened him a little; that they couldn't be friends anymore, she was his first friend after all. But that was his past, and now he should look toward the future, and with that resolve he knew he should not stay any longer, for his future was waiting back at the village where he left her.

"Are you listening to me Inuyasha?" Kikyo inquired this with a slight edge, not liking to be ignored.

"Of course." It wasn't a complete lie, he was listening to her, he just didn't care to respond to whatever she said. Yeah that's it! She still looked a bit skeptical; she had the right to be actually.

"As I was saying before, I have been watching you Inuyasha, you and my reincarnation. I am not pleased." Kikyo was scowling now; she had a mean glare in her dead eyes. It was kind of amazing to see her hold that much emotion.

Sure she had been angry before, but this was just outrageous. Kikyo didn't like the feelings she was having right now. She couldn't believe it. Inuyasha is getting too close to her copy, and that is just unheard of. Of course Kikyo really didn't love Inuyasha, she was basically just using him so she could be a normal woman. She liked the thought of him, but never loved him. He could have brought her freedom, a life she always dreamed of; a normal girl with a house and little children running all around. He could have given her that, and for that she was grateful to him. However, she could never have loved him, first reason being she just did not care for him in that way, secondly he was beneath her after all. She being a priestess, him being a hanyou, it would never have worked. As it was now however, her once nice dreams had turned clouded, and now all she cared for was revenge. At the moment she felt fury, because it seemed as though now that that would be taken away from her as well. That thought did not sit very well with her at all. It wasn't that she cared if the stupid girl liked Inuyasha, no she would be dealt with eventually but, it was the basic principle of the situation. Inuyasha was hers and that was that. She had him first and no one was going to take him from her.

She continued on to say, "I have seen you two getting closer, and I would like to remind you of your promise to me, you will go to hell with me Inuyasha. That is not optional."

Inuyasha just stood there dumbstruck. He hadn't realized how bad their relationship had gotten; how out of control it now was. It was not out of control like Naraku, it was just out of control in a different way, like it was out of his control to set things right again. He did not like not having control of a situation, it made him feel powerless. Not to mention this was so sudden, he wasn't expecting that to be the reason of why she wanted to see him. He knew this was going to come up at one point or another, but he was hoping that it would be mentioned after Naraku had been killed, not before. He hadn't had time to prepare, what was he going to say? He wasn't ready for this! He started to panic, and by the look on her face, it would seem that she knew she had stunned him for a while. He saw her turn from him, shaking her head slightly. He was simply unable to speak, and by the time he had found his voice again, she was already gone, he vaguely remembered her saying something about "until next time" but until he got out of his stupor, it wouldn't quite click yet in his mind.

'that was completely different from all of our other visits. That was so sudden.' Then his ego flared up, not to mention it was a little bruised being bossed around like that, he wasn't used to anyone doing that except for Kagome. But when she did it, he would always yell back, henceforth one of their fights. But this wasn't Kagome, and this wasn't a comfortable feeling he was feeling. 'Who the h does she think she is bossing me around like that!'

Needless to say Inuyasha was not in a very good mood, and about everyone back at the village was going to know soon enough. When he thought about it more and more, he seemed to just get madder and madder. How dare she do that like she owned him, their relationship was nothing of the sort. The only one who could ever own him would be Kagome, and that was even if they ever became mates. He would own her and she would own him, no one else. And apparently Kikyo just didn't get that their relationship had changed between them, either that or she just didn't want to get it. Is she really that dense to not know that he doesn't love her? Surely not because he shows it everyday that he is with Kagome and everyday that he goes and sees Kikyo he becomes more and more detached from her. She always hurts Kagome, she even tried to kill her! Kagome was just too good to admit it, another reason why he loved her by the way. She never did tell him what had happened that day, but he knew, oh yes, he knew. He knew from the very beginning that Kikyo had tried to kill her. But at the time it hadn't mattered because at that point he was still undecided about the whole situation. He had known he loved Kagome, but he hadn't really meditated on his "feelings" for Kikyo and so he didn't know what they were. He had been selfish at the time, he said he would protect Kagome, but how could he do that when she needed to be protected from Kikyo, someone he had also given that promise too? He knew how Kagome felt about it to. She had been frightened, and he hadn't protected her from that fear, and for that he still feels ashamed. He has made the conclusion that from now on he will protect Kagome from everything and everyone no matter who they are. He had known when he got there that Kikyo had tried something, yet hadn't known what it was at the time. He asked Kagome what had happened. And yet, she hadn't said anything about it. If she wasn't, then he certainly wasn't, he knew and that was all that mattered. Kikyo had tried to kill her and Kagome had still been the better person, and most likely always will be. She even saved Kikyo one time! Yes, indeed he knew about that as well. How could someone intentionally save the person who tried to kill them? It was just simply amazing, but what could he say…Kagome was amazing.

The demon had finally been defeated. Kagome had landed the last blow, it had had a jewel shard as well and that is reason for it to be able to regenerate its body parts that had been severed off. Everyone was just completely worn out; they forgot how hard it was to fight when Inuyasha wasn't with them. Sango and Miroku were having contradicting feelings at the same time. Both of them were so mad at Inuyasha for not being there with them, he should have been there! But then again, they now felt very grateful towards him for all of the times he has been there, they needed to remember to thank him. Or they could just not bite his head off for not being there and that itself would cancel out them having to say thank you. Yea that would work. Sango and Miroku came out with some damage done, but nothing that wouldn't heal over time. A few cuts, a few bruises here and there, nothing they couldn't handle.

Kagome however, was very tired. She had put a lot of spiritual energy into that arrow that had gotten them the victory. She had cuts, not everywhere, but they were plentiful. This is due to the fact that she was the main target of course, she was the one with the jewel shards after all. She did however have a very sore back and bruised eye. This was due to the fact that she had tried shooting the demon once already and it had missed…however it did succeed in ticking the demon off and the demon flung his arm towards her. She was not expecting this so she was hit clean in the face and knocked back into a tree, but she had moved at the last second, so therefore the hit wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. The tree had shook with enough force that some of the leaves had come off. She had turned her head just in time so where only a part of her face was hit. It still, however, hurt like nobodies business. Her mind has been a little fuzzy for a minute or two right after the hit; she had been knocked into a tree. So it would be needless to say that even after the demon had been finished off, that she was still a little dizzy. For the rest of the members the cuts were small, and the group actually came out pretty lucky, it wasn't a big demon, just a minor one. Although, have you every wondered why the smallest cuts in the world are the ones that hurt the most?

"Kagome…are you gonna be okay?" Shippo's worried question broke through her reverie. She smiled slightly at him; he was just so darn cute! In a way she had become like a mother to him. Always babying him when he was hurt or scared, bringing him treats and just treating him as a mother would. She loved him like her own, and right now she should be giving him the attention that he deserved considering he was probably still scared because of the demon. But she just couldn't summon up the strength in order to do so. So, she settled for just patting his head affectionately. He pouted a little at first, not liking to be ignored.

"It's that baka Inuyasha isn't it? When he gets back I'm gonna-" Miroku quickly coverd Shippo's mouth making sure that Shippo could not make the situation any worse. Shippo was grunting his displeasure but he could be talked to later.

"Kagome, maybe you should put this wet rag on your face. It will make it feel better." Sango brought Kagome the cold rag that she had brought back from the river. Kagome nodded her thanks and placed the rag upon her swollen eye.

While Miroku and Sango were contemplating the group's next move, Kagome was having completely different thoughts. 'I am so mad at him! He should have been here. I forgive him for everything, everything, even when I shouldn't. I know he cares about her, but I care about him to ya' know! Whenever she comes around he drops everything he is doing! But I still come running back to him like a lost puppy.' Kagome kind of chuckled on the inside of how ironic her analogy really was, but that quickly faded when the thoughts of what happened this time came back to her. 'It's not like I ask that much of him. Seriously all of the other times I could forgive him, but this time, he left us in danger and that in itself is unforgivable. However, it's not like he would care if anything did happen to me. That is except for the fact that it would be harder to get the jewel shards, because as you everyone knows I am just his jewel detector.' Kagome just realized something, she was tired. Not like in the first sentence of the other paragraph tired () but tired. She was tired of always being the second to think about, tired of the way he treated her, calling her names like wench. She was tired of always being compared to Kikyo, always left on a string and hung out to dry whenever she showed up. She was tired of forgiving him, tired of trying to patch things up with him, tired of saying sorry when it wasn't even her fault! She was just tired of everything. Her face was aching so horribly now and it hurt to even move the rag, and her back was just a different story. She was very sore and then she realized it. Inuyasha had not protected her because he was with Kikyo…because Kikyo was more important. As of right now she honestly had no idea what she was going to do. Right now, all of these thoughts instead of doing their usual job of making her mad, they mad her extremely sad. This time was different. This time she wasn't going to be mad at him, she wasn't going to yell at him, she wasn't going to do anything, she was too numb. She felt nothing, thought of nothing except her own self loathing and the pain in her face and back.

Across the hut Miroku and Sango were watching her with remorse. They all knew how she felt, that is except for Inuyasha…he was as dense as they come. But they knew that she loved him, how much she cared about him, and how every time he went to Kikyo it broke her heart. Shippo was wondering how to annoy Inuyasha when he got back, maybe his yelling mushrooms would do the trick, an amused smirk adorned his face. Miroku thought that maybe it was time he had a talk with Inuyasha about how he treated her, while Sango on the other hand was having more…evil thoughts. 'He does not deserve to be loved by her. That inconsiderate fool! How can he just go running off like that when he knows that Kagome does not like it? He should be grateful that she hasn't sat him into the center of the earth by now. I know if it were me I would just push him off of a cliff and be done with it!' Sango noticed that Miroku was staring at her and that brought her out of her thoughts.

"What!" She had accidentally snapped, she hadn't meant for it to come out that mean! She then noticed that she must have had a really evil look on her face just now because Miroku had moved away a good three feet, along with Shippo.

"Whoa…she's scary when she's mad…" Shippo whispered this so hopefully only Miroku would hear. But Sango heard it as well and then blushed a pretty shade of pink.

"Sorry. I hadn't realized I had gotten so angry." She looked down blushing profusely.

Meanwhile, Kagome had been zoned out for quite a while. Not having heard any of the conversation that just went on with the others, and honestly not caring either. Her mind was on one thing, and one thing only. Just how stupid she really was. She couldn't believe how stupid she had been to believe that maybe he actually cared for her, not even a little. All the times he had saved her, had helped her bandage up when she was injured; all of the little looks he would give her when he thought she wasn't looking. She thought that all of that had meant something, but apparently it was just wishful thinking. The thoughts that plagued her mind just a few seconds ago had a totally different meaning now, she was pathetic and that hurt. But what hurt the most was the fact that 'I will never be good enough.'

The minute she thought that something inside of her broke, just snapped, it wasn't painful or anything like that, but something just broke. It was like the weight on her shoulder's had finally brought her down. The break wasn't painful, it was like a stick snapping under your foot when you step on it. The strong, powerful, willful, caring, loving girl had just been pummeled. Her thoughts were confused, all mixed up, her normal, glowing chocolate eyes had lost their glow. Her happy face had just turned to a sorrowful one. The one who never backs down, the one who fights for what she believes in, the one who is never afraid to say what she thinks! Kagome Higurashi…had been broken.

There you go! I don't know if it's a cliffhanger, or not really, or whatever you call it, but I need at least 3 reviews to continue, so make me happy! Thanks again guys! And happy reading!