Chapter Thirty-one: Broken Glass

*Kagome*

That was when a dark shadow appeared right behind Inuyasha… what happened was over so quickly that Kagome didn't see what happened, but the next thing she saw was that Inuyasha was on the ground—and sickly black substance covering his back…

And with a feeling of pure terror, she realized that black stuff… was vampire blood… Inuyasha's blood.

"Inuyasha!" she screamed as she stepped forward.

But a dark shadow appeared in front of her.

"You can't outrun your occupation, Kagome," said a teasing voice.

Kagome stepped back, knowing who it was.

"Just what the hell do you want with me, Naraku!?" she demanded, hugging the child vampire to her chest.

As Naraku stepped into the shadowy moonlight, she could see his horrible red eyes leering at her through the darkness. "Hiding from me one place, you'll find me in another."

"Old-fashioned aren't you?" she asked coldly. "That sounds like something you get from a bad play."

He chuckled. "Personally," he grinned. "I think that the world has gotten so terribly, terribly old." He threw something at her feet. "Please consider it a gift…"

She gulped. It was a rose he threw… but it was as black as the night… she knew what it meant… Sending black roses to someone indicates the death.

"What do you want with me?" she demanded, trying not to show the fear in her tone. Suddenly, Inuyasha was back on his feet and had run to stand right in front of Kagome and Shippo, facing Naraku with the blood pouring down his face.

*Inuyasha*

Inuyasha had come close to dying plenty of times before. And he had also fought for his life before… but now with Kagome… the idea of her getting hurt made him feel that he couldn't breathe anymore.

'Why did I do that?' he thought to himself angrily. 'How could I let Naraku catch me off my guard like that and leave him able to kill Kagome?'

"Kagome!" he yelled throwing out an arm to shield her from the two vampires. "You and Shippo get out of here!"

"You're crazy if you think that I'm just going to run off while you fight them!" she yelled, Shippo now crying into her coat.

"You both are just in the way," he told her firmly, still not looking at her.

"But…" she started to tell him, but he glared at her fiercely.

"GO!" he repeated with such force that she knew he was right. She hesitated, but nodded as she turned and ran towards the clock tower. Inuyasha stood there breathing hard, ready to fight to the death if he had to. 'Why did I have to get cursed like this?' he thought to himself. 'Why did I have to get bitten?'

And to his horror, as if he knew what he was thinking, Naraku smirked and asked, "Because that's just the way you are."

Inuyasha was startled, but got over it quickly as he glared back at him angrily. "What do you mean?" he demanded.

"The expression on your face said it all," he began in that sickeningly calm voice. He paused for a moment.

"That is none of your business!" Inuyasha snapped aggressively at him. "Just hurry and get lost, you already did enough."

"Inuyasha. I can see it in your eyes. You're scared…" he grinned.

Inuyasha was outraged. "Scared?! Scared of what?! Of you?! Please! I've seen fleas scarier than you!"

Naraku just smirked wider and started to walk around Inuyasha. "Yes of me… but not for your own life."

"What do you mean you son of a-" Inuyasha began, until Naraku interrupted him. "Being a vampire isn't a curse. See it more as a blessing. We can live forever, we have no worries in life, and best of all we get to see others suffer."

"This isn't a blessing Naraku. It's a nightmare. And I want out," he growled, sounding more like a dog than human. "I never asked for this!"

"Well like it or not you can't change it. You are who you are forever. So you might as well enjoy it," Naraku told him sinisterly.

"I rather be a human than ever turn into you!" he yelled.

"For what? To us, a hundred years is nothing at all," he asked. "But to a human, you're dead and gone within a century. Or is this because of your human friend?"

Inuyasha didn't reply, his breath hitched for a moment and that was what Naraku wanted.

"You can't be with her," he grinned evilly. "Not now, not ever. And even if you could, chances are that you most likely would endanger her and you two are just too different. Besides… you don't want what happened with your last beloved to happen her?"

"I don't care what you say! And I don't have to hear any more crap that comes out of your mouth!" Inuyasha yelled then ran off.

Naraku remained there for a few more seconds, smiling evilly. "You really love her don't you, Inuyasha. Well, this only makes things all the more interesting…"

Meanwhile Kagome was running as fast as she could go through the empty streets. Ignoring the shouts and occasional bangs around her, she skidded around a sharp corner until she saw a familiar figure running towards them.

"Kagome!" Miroku called—burnt and scratched, but thankfully alive. "So good to see you both are ok."

"Are you alright?" she asked when she came to a stop in front of him.

"Oh, I'm fine," he said gesturing towards the many scratches. "Just a few minor injuries. I've had worse."

"But what about Hakudoshi?!" Shippo cried out.

"I didn't get a chance to kill him," Miroku said, sounding disappointed. "I'm ashamed of that, but at least I was able to deal him some serious injuries. I'm pretty sure that he's out of the fight for now."

"Miroku," Kagome said hurriedly as she pointed to the giant clock to the far left. "He's there! My brother! Sota's in the clock tower!"

Miroku stared at her before he looked up to the same tower, "You sure?!"

"Yes," Kagome told him firmly. "He has to be there! We have to get to him fast!"

Miroku nodded. "Ok, let's go and find Sango and Kirara before we all head there and…"

But before he could finish, just then the sound of something large breaking into pieces was heard off in the distance.

"Who was that?" Kagome asked as Shippo screamed in terror.

"I don't know," Miroku replied staring off in the direction of dunk tanks, now moving so that he stood in front of her as well. "But we're not alone…" he told her, soft and quiet.

Just then from out in the distance, they saw two figures gliding out towards them.

"What the hell?" Miroku shouted in panic. "Kagome! Move!"

Kagome ducked as Miroku charged ahead. The vampires seemed to come from all directions, surrounding them.

"What do we do?" Kagome cried as Shippo screamed in terror. Just then there was a noise from the nearby stands. Kagome turned around to see Inuyasha bursting through.

"Inuyasha…" she cried out.

"Kagome, you shouldn't be here," he said hurried as he forced her head down as something came flying overhead.

Her fear turned right away to anger. "What?!" she screamed at him from the ground. "Of course I should be here! Sota's my brother!"

Inuyasha sighed. "I'll save the kid alright? But I want you to go Kagome, and don't come back. I won't be able to protect you anymore. You might get hurt, even worse than this."

"I… can't do that Inuyasha…" she said staring at him. Now what's happened? Kagome looked into his eyes. His beautiful eyes of his she adored so much. But they were bloodshot at the moment. His expression was saddened. "I…" she began, but that was when one of the stands blew into pieces as Inuyasha grabbed her and Shippo and jumped out of the way of the shrapnel.

"It's too late Kagome," Inuyasha interrupted looking down at her. "He'll take us all out, I know it. Nothing can stop him now."

"We have to do something to stop him—anything! It's just…" she cried.

"Kagome…" He spoke, picking her up and moving her to underneath a broken down ride, and out of harms way. "It's too late. But I promise you that I'll save you and Sota, okay?"

"Inuyasha… no," she gasped. "NO!" she shouted and grabbing his arm. "I won't let you do it, you're staying here with me!"

"You can't choose me over your family, Kagome," he snarled at her.

"I don't want to lose either one of you…"

"If I don't end this soon, your brother will die and once that is done there won't be anything you can do to save him," he snapped. "I'll be back alright?"

He then pulled himself free from her and took off again into the darkness. Hot tears were falling from her face. "Kagome?" Shippo asked quietly, not having a clue to what she and Inuyasha had said having been paying attention to the fight. "Are you ok?"

She didn't answer. The truth was that she was determined to save both Sota and Inuyasha somehow. But she didn't know where she could find the answers that would solve her problems. They felt out of reach, with no solution, no resolve.

Sota…

It killed her inside to see the once lively energetic and annoying brother of hers trapped here in the middle of this…

'I'll find a way to save you,' she thought hugging his coat again. 'I promise. I won't let you die…'

"Kagome…?" came a soft voice from behind. Kagome turned around to see Sango and Kirara running towards them.

"Sango!" she cried, panic gripping her as she saw the black blood dripping down from her arm. "Are you alright?"

"I'll live," she said, as she looked over to see that Miroku and Kirara were now fighting the two vampires. Kagome gasped. One of them was human size with long purplish-pink hair. But his eyes were empty… devoid of all intelligence and emotion. But the second one… he was small and looked like some kind of mutated snake and human. While his face was identical to the second vampire, his body was long and instead of hands, his arms looked like two sharp sickles.

"Juromaru and Kagerōmaru," Sango muttered, biting her lip. "Now you know that Naraku's desperate."

"What?" she repeated completely baffled.

"Those two," she said as she pointed to the fight. "Their names are Juromaru and Kagerōmaru. But not even Naraku can control them."

"Then why are they fighting us?" she asked as Kirara knocked Juromaru through another stand.

"Because they live to fight," she muttered in disgust. "Unlike the others, the big one Juromaru, doesn't have much intelligence, making him no more less than a simple-minded beast. However, he made up for it with great agility and strength, making him a match for even Inuyasha. The little ugly one is his twin brother called Kagerōmaru, who lives in his stomach."

"What?!" Kagome cried in disgust. "He lives in his stomach?!"

"Yeah, I know," she muttered. "And he's quite fast, unlike his twin brother Juromaru, Kageromaru is highly intelligent and the only one who could control his mindless brother, Juromaru."

She then saw Kagerōmaru create a long gash on Miroku's shoulder and she yelled, "Miroku! Hold on!" She leapt to her feet and charged forward, ready to fight.

*Meanwhile*

Inuyasha was jumping from ride to ride and finally climbing up a steep building. He trusted the others to look after Kagome, but the longer that she's here, the more danger she'll be in. He had to get the kid and her out of this battle. But with every step he made, he kept going over and over in his mind what Naraku said.

Was it possible that they couldn't be together? He was broken for sure. For years he had been searching for the one that can fix him - somewhere, anywhere. He had been searching in his thoughts, and in his mind, and in his dreams and soul and heart and consciousness… for someone who could put his heart back together.

And now he slowly started to heal. He didn't want to ever risk that… but so long as he was what he is, then he would be forced to sacrifice it. But it wasn't over. He looked up to see the sinking moon vaguely shining in the clock's face. There was still time to get everything…

With a great jump, he was able to get through the window, smashing it to pieces. Gasping for breath, he looked up and there he was… lying still as a ragdoll and cold as ice was the kid. He went over and felt his pulse… it was there… though faint. He looked hard at the kid, knowing that if he spent anymore time in this freezing tower, it could easily kill him. But just at that moment, the half-frozen boy looked up at him and screamed.

He wrenched his and away from him and scooted as far as he could to the other side of the tower.

"Relax," he told the kid. "I'm here to help."

"B-but y-y-yo-ou're all v-vampires!" the boy stuttered through chattering teeth. "Get a-away from m-m-me!"

"Look kid," he said getting angry, "We don't have time! We have to…" but as he took a step forward, the boy screamed in terror again and curled up into a tiny ball and cried. Losing patience, Inuyasha reached over and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and pulled him back to the broken window. Predictably the boy screamed and thrashed around, desperate to escape. "N-no! No! P-please don't th-th-throw me down there!"

"Would you shut up?" Inuyasha snapped. "I'm here because your sister asked me to."

At the mention of Kagome, Sota stopped struggling and looked up, tears in his eyes. "K-Kagome? You k-know my sister?"

"Yes," he said, glad to be getting somewhere. "I'm here to take you back to her. But if you keep going on like that, then I'll leave you hear you got it?"

Sota nodded meekly, his anger clearly scaring him. "Good," Inuyasha said throwing him up and onto his back. "Now hold on."

And then they jumped.

*Back to the battle*

The battle wasn't going well. Kirara was hurt, as Miroku and Sango were on either side of her, trying to protect her.

Kagome sat there, hunched down, hating herself for not being able to do anything else but watch. Then the one called Juromaru had succeeded in knocking Miroku off his feet and that was when Kagerōmaru made his move. He rose up into the air and fell towards Miroku like a bullet. "See you in hell, Monk!" he yelled, his sickle-like arms raised, the sharp blades shining.

"LOOK OUT!" Kagome screamed. Just when she thought that it was over for her perverted friend, something came flying over her head and kicked Kagerōmaru out of the way.

"Koga!" Kagome yelled, recognizing the figure overhead. It was Koga but he wasn't alone. With him were also Ayame and Kohaku all of them looking ready for a fight.

"We heard the fighting from a mile away and couldn't resist coming to the party," Koga yelled now sinking his fangs into Juromaru. Hope rising in her chest, she watched as they all battled each other, Shippo cheering them on all the way.

"Kagome!" yelled the one voice she wanted to hear the most. She spun around from where she crouched and there he was. His hair shining like the moon, his fangs barred… and a tiny figure was clinging to his back.

"Inuyasha!" she cried, and then she saw who was with him and she screamed out, "SOTA!"

Once they landed, Sota stumbled off from Inuyasha's back and staggered over to his sister. "Kagome!" he cried out, tears clung to his face from the cold. She hugged him tightly to her, running her hand through his thick hair, telling him over and over again that he would be ok.

"Oh, Sota," she gasped as she pulled out his coat and wrapped it tightly around him, "You're half frozen!"

"K-Kagome!" he stuttered, pointing to Inuyasha. "Y-you see? I-I told y-y-you! V-vampires are r-r-real!"

Kagome blinked before she let out a strangled laughed and hugged him tighter. "Ok," she whispered. "I'll say this only once… but you were right."

"You can save it all later," Inuyasha yelled grabbing the two humans and Shippo and sprinted to a new place. He then dropped them both back to the ground. "You both stay here," he commanded. "You should be safe. We'll come back for you as soon as we can."

"No! Inuyasha!" she gasped dropping both Shippo and Sota.

"S-Shippo?" Sota cried when he saw the little vampire.

"Ah, hey there, Sota!" Shippo said, trying to sound cheerful, but anyone could hear the fear in his tone. Kagome ignored them as she cried out softly, "Inuyasha."

He paused for a moment before he looked back at her. Inuyasha slightly turned his head. Kagome saw his fangs and took a step back. He had a mad expression on his face that Kagome didn't trust.

Not caring who else was here… not caring that her brother was watching, she ran forward and crashed her lips against Inuyasha's again. She could hear the boys gasp behind her, but her entire focus was on the desperate kiss again.

She could almost feel as if Inuyasha was forcing himself to return it before he pulled away.

Inuyasha looked away from her once they were apart. "I have to go. But I'll be back. Just… just stay here until I get back…"

"Wait," Kagome protested. "Don't go yet—"

But it was too late… he had already left her.

(Good… I'm finally done with another chapter! I know I've been keeping you all waiting, I'm sorry, but I'm stuck with midterms and it hasn't been easy. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. And to those of you who have been asking, the prologue that you read here? That scene will be going up soon. Hope this chapter tides you over until then.)