Blanket Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or any of the characters therein. They are the property of Rumiko Takahashi, and she does a beautiful job!

Please forgive any spelling and grammatical errors.

One Question

Chapter 30 - Broken

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Bankotsu looked at her, "you sure you want to do this?"

She nodded her head.

"Ariana?"

She turned around.

Her daughter was ignoring her.

Kagome faced the front and felt her composer faltering.

"We could go back," Bankotsu offered.

Kagome shook her head, "No, I have to do this."

Bankotsu reached over and held her hand.

Kagome smiled at him.

They pulled into the cemetery.

Kagome opened the backseat car door, "Ariana, there is someone that I want you to meet."

Ariana looked at her skeptically before unbuckling her seatbelt and getting out of the car.

Kagome felt slightly better when her daughter grabbed her hand.

She looked to Bankotsu, "I am here for you," he told her as he put his arm around her shoulder.

She smiled as they made their way to the tomb.

2254.

She stared at it a moment.

The name burned into her retinas.

Shinji Higurashi.

Kagome felt her lip quiver.

Bankotsu rubbed her shoulder.

A couple tears fell down her face as she bent down, "Ariana."

Ariana looked at her.

"This is your grandpa."

Ariana looked at her not understanding.

"This was mommy's daddy."

"What is he doing here?"

Kagome's smile faltered a bit, "He died… a long time ago."

Ariana looked at Kagome as she held her hand tighter, "so… I won't be able to meet him?"

Kagome shook her head, "this is all that is left of grandpa. This block here."

"Was he nice, mommy?"

Kagome let out a small laugh, "he was very nice."

"Was he like daddy?"

Kagome looked at her as her mouth hung open. She bit lower lip,"Yes, he is a lot like daddy."

Ariana pulled on her hand, "Can we go see daddy now?"

Kagome sniffled, knowing that she would have to face him, but also knowing that she would first have to do it without her daughter, "tomorrow, okay?"

Ariana smiled, "Okay."

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They dropped Ariana off at her moms. The little girl was completely worn up physically and emotionally. Today was a hard day on both of them.

The day seemed to creep by and when it was just her and Bankotsu in the car alone, the anxiety rose up in her chest.

He must have noticed her change in demeanor, but the first question out of his mouth did not offer any type of relief.

"You going to see him?"

She thought that from the steadiness of the day, she would be able to handle thoughts of her next confrontation with InuYasha, but boy, was she wrong.

Kagome looked at Bankotsu, "I want to… but…"

He smiled at her, "you can wait."

She smiled at him, "thank you… for coming with me today." A change of topic was in order – not to mention it would allow her to really focus on what she wanted to do with the situation she got herself into with InuYasha.

He lifted his shoulders, "that's what friends are here for."

She nodded her head.

"But you need to tell him," he persisted.

She looked at her hands, "I know."

"Promise me that you will tell him… I don't want you giving up on him this easy."

She looked at him, "since when did you get so smart?"

"It comes with age," he told her as he winked.

She took a deep breath, "Okay, well can we make one more stop?"

He nodded his head, knowing exactly where they were going.

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He pulled in front of the apartment complex.

She turned to him shyly, "stay… please?"

He looked at her with wide eyes, as he scratched the back of his head, "but what if you two… you know…?"

Kagome felt a blush cross her face, flabbergast by his submission, "I will text you."

He took a deep breath, "fine, but don't make me wait forever."

She smiled, a heat still beating on her cheeks, "deal."

Slowly, she walked away from his car.

She stood there a moment, knowing that she had a lot of explaining to do.

Bankotsu honked the horn.

Kagome jumped and turned to look at him, "go," he told her from inside the car.

She nodded her head and made her way up the stairs.

It took a while to reach his floor, but finally, she reached his apartment.

She took a deep breath, and then placed a gentle knock on the door.

After about a minute and no answer, she figured she might as well try again tomorrow, but then, the door swooped open.

Kagome looked up and saw InuYasha.

He looked so lost… so hurt… so torn.

'What have I done?'

"InuYasha?"

InuYasha looked at her with wide-eyes, "Kagome? What…?"

She took a deep breath, "I want to marry you."

She closed her eyes tightly waiting for his answer.

She knew that he wouldn't be jumping up and down for joy that she finally accepted him, but this she was not expecting.

She opened her eyes, and he was still staring at her.

"InuYasha…what is wrong?"

He looked at her unbelievingly, "I –"

The door opened wider, and Kagome felt her mouth drop, "Kikyo?"

Kikyo looked at Kagome as a blush crossed her cheeks, "Kagome."

Kagome furrowed her brow as she looked from Kikyo to InuYasha, and then back to Kikyo, "I thought you were on your honeymoon?"

Kikyo's eyes turned sad, "we never got a chance to go on it."

Kagome looked at her shocked, "what? Why?"

Kikyo looked at her sister sadly, "I'm sorry," she replied as she walked past them.

"Kikyo?" Kagome called as her sister ran into the stairway.

She turned back to InuYasha, "What is wrong with Kikyo?"

InuYasha felt his heart beating terribly fast in his chest.

He never thought something like this would happen. Stuff like this never happens to anyone, but him.

"InuYasha?"

InuYasha looked at her as his heart tore.

He closed his eyes, "she broke off the marriage."

Kagome looked at him with wide-eyes, "broke it off? Why? They loved each other."

InuYasha shook his head, "sometimes, Kagome, some things are more important."

Kagome wasn't understanding him, "Well, we need to talk her out of it. You can't just throw something like they had away."

She turned to go after her.

InuYasha grabbed her arms and pulled her close to him.

He held her there tightly. Neither one saying anything.

He closed his eyes.

He needed to cherish this moment.

He needed to remember what it felt like.

He took one more deep breath, knowing he was about to change everything between them forever.

"She is pregnant."

He felt her turning around to face him.

"Pregnant?" She laughed, "Well, duh, her and Koga would have had sex."

InuYasha shook his head, "they haven't done it in over three months."

Kagome's eyes widened in realization, "then who…?"

InuYasha closed his eyes tightly, "Can we talk about this tomorrow? Can I not just hold you?" He begged her.

She pushed InuYasha away from her, "Who?"

She asked him firmly.

He opened his eyes. She saw such torment there…such regret.

"She is having my baby."

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A/N: Oh my gosh, I just did that. :/

Please don't kill me!

I know that it has been forever. I think it was partially due to this chapter. There is some growth that needs to occur with InuYasha, and I didn't want to just end the story knowing that there are a lot of unanswered questions, so while this looks bleak, it all has a purpose. Please continue to stick with this story!

Until next time!