Sesshomaru's Pup

by mndlrn

Sesshomaru kidnaps Kagome to take care of his child. The Daiyoukai says nothing about where or how his kid came from, causing trouble among the gang. Where did the boy come from? And why are people trying to kill him? (Set after Naraku's death)

1. Chapter 1

"I wish you'd listen to us for once, Inuyasha!" Sango was irritated, and Kagome was too busy caring for the sick hanyou to pay her much mind. He'd strayed too close during the last extermination, and got a nose-full of Sango's favorite scent-beads. As always they'd made her husband truly ill, and he lay groaning in Kagome's lap as she rubbed his back soothingly.

Ever since Naraku had been killed Inuyasha was bored, though he was really relieved that the spider-hanyou had finally been put down. (Kaede's village had been half destroyed towards the end, but that had been resolved for a while now.)

"Poor Inuyasha," she sighed.

"Idiot," Sango hmmped, turning to leave the room they were staying in for the night. Miroku chuckled, resting against the wall and closing his eyes.

"He really is," Shippo laughed, plopping himself next to the furyou houshi.

"I know you're sick," Kagome rubbed his head, and he groaned something unintelligible to her. "I know, I know," she shushed, brushing the bangs back from his face. His eyes were closed, and he seemed not to care at all that he was currently reclining in her lap in front of Miroku and Sango. At least she was wearing her miko robes so she didn't have to worry about flipping a skirt up.

"He just wanted to kill the youkai himself and you know it," Shippo snorted, rolling his eyes.

Kagome was oblivious as well, running a damp cloth over his fevered face.

"He does quite prefer that, yes," Miroku stated.

"Big stupid show-off." Shippo pouted.

Miroku patted the boy's head, "In a few years you'll be able to help more."

"Watch Inuyasha for me, will you? I'm going to go get more water," Kagome sighed, easing the heavy hanyou from her lap and onto the wooden floor. "I won't be long Inuyasha."

He grunted something, and the miko was gone.

---

She took the bucket, hurrying to the stream outside the village. It looped by the east side of the town and a bit further into the forest than was generally the case, but she liked it. It was quiet and away from the bustle of the village that still seemed to revere her.

The afternoon was warm, but the fresh wind alleviated any heat that might have generated from it. Kagome dropped by the stream, quickly taking a few seconds to allow the stress from her muscles to dissipate, if only for the briefest of moments.

Rotating her shoulders, and regaining some of the feeling in her legs, she quickly dotted her face with water, hoping to allay any of the sweat from the day. What she wouldn't give for a bath though…

The water was cool and sweet to the tongue, and she allowed herself a few more handfuls.

Bending down she saw her reflection in the water, straggling black hair a bit wild from the day's events. Sighing she brushed it back, trying to smooth the frazzled parts with dampness. She didn't want Inuyasha waking up to see her looking so overworked; he'd go into overprotective hanyou-husband mode.

"Yes, definitely a bath," she sighed once more. But in this era she'd be lucky to get a cold stream in the middle of the night while hoping that their light held out long enough to barely scrub.

Why was it so silent though? Usually she could hear little forest animals running around, or the chirping of birds as they happily did whatever birds did. The wind didn't even seem to be blowing. What…?

"Miko."

She froze. Only one person could speak a single word with so much condescension, apathy, and disdain all in one word. And it made her limbs lock up.

Moving slowly she raised her line of vision, dreading what she knew. There stood Inuyasha's powerful older brother, watching her with those uncaring, cold eyes.

Oh crap.

Inuyasha and the others were all in the village, but there was no time to run. He was too fast, and he'd strike her down within the second she decided to bolt. That Inuyasha was in no condition to fight anyone at the moment, nonetheless Sesshomaru, prompted her to swallow hard and speak.

"Sesshomaru?"

He did not give any sign of recognition, merely watching her unblinkingly.

Did he ever blink? Damn it. It might set her more at ease if he did like a NORMAL person.

"Hi Kagome!" Rin's voice rang out, and she noticed the orange-clad human behind the intimidating youkai.

"Ah…hi Rin."

"Kagome, I missed you! Is Shippo-chan ok? And that funny kitty with the tails!" Rin giggled, coming to stand next to Sesshomaru's leg.

Meanwhile she struggled under the never-ending glare of the male. Geez.

"Oh, they're…fine." She stood, leaving the bucket there. Nervously she fisted her hands in her skirt, wishing that she'd thought to bring her arrows and quiver.

Stupid! You should know by now!

"Rin found pretty flowers! Right, Sesshomaru-sama?" Rin looked up at him expectantly, though he still did not answer. "Jaken-sama did not like them, but…"

"Hush, Rin," Sesshomaru finally spoke quietly. The little human girl fell completely silent immediately, although it did nothing to quell the excitement in her eyes.

"Why are you here, Sesshomaru?" She was nervous, and he probably knew that, but he must have a reason for him to have sought her out.

"You will come with this Sesshomaru."

He spoke it as an absolute, and she paled immediately. "What?"

"Kagome's coming with us? Rin is happy!" The girl in orange beamed, grinning from ear to ear.

"What about Inuyasha?"

"The hanyou is of no consequence." Sesshomaru's eyebrow might have twitched, but then she may have imagined it.

"I can't just leave with you-"

"You will." Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed, and she saw the hint of irritation in his tight face.

"Well, I…"

"Please Kagome?" Rin pleaded, one hand reaching out to clutch the silk of Sesshomaru's knee naturally, without thinking. He did not react, and Kagome held her breath for a moment.

Sesshomaru could kill her, if she decided to say no. Inuyasha couldn't fight him off, and…

"We leave now. Do not bother this Sesshomaru with your nonsense, girl." Without another word or glance he turned, and Rin waited a moment for Kagome's muscles to regain the ability to work.

Stunned, she set foot-after-foot on the ground behind him, Rin staying even with her somewhat-erratic pace.

My, he's fast!

She became lost in the sway of the tall taiyoukai's hair, irritated at the way that she was always being forced into these things. Didn't he remember that she'd married Inuyasha? She couldn't just leave him!

"Would you like one of Rin's flowers? Rin picked it by the river." A yellow weed was offered up to her, and she took it without thinking.

"Rin?"

"Yes Kagome?"

Large brown eyes looked up at her, and she knew Rin would not be able to lie to her. "What's going on?"

"Sesshomaru-sama is irritated, I think. Jaken-sama is having issues with…" A large rabbit ran across the path between them and Sesshomaru's ever-moving form, and she clapped her hands. "Look, Kagome! A bunny! He's so cute!"

"Issues with…?" Sure the bunny was cute, but the miko needed to know why she'd basically been kidnapped.

"Jaken-sama doesn't like rabbits, not like me. Rin thinks rabbits are adorable with their ears, so fuzzy! He says they're only food, but Rin thinks she would like to hug one, maybe…" she trailed off, running in the next moment to catch up to Sesshomaru's long strides.

Definitely a short attention span. Kagome sighed, watching her finally come within a few feet of the irritating taiyoukai, sending him a quick glare for her own benefit. Kidnapping her? Who the hell did he think he was? And more than that, why?

Surely he wouldn't kill her in front of Rin, would he? Or maybe he was going to hold her ransom for the Tetsusaiga? Would someone of his "honor" do that, or was it merely to further his works in provoking Inuyasha? Though why he would want to provoke Inuyasha was always a question she could never answer. It certainly wasn't out of any brotherly affection.

Of course Mr. Unnatural never seemed capable of participating in anything that would seem normal to everyone else in the world.

They weren't following roads, but what was probably Sesshomaru's own heightened sense of direction. Slipping through the trees like a ghost she found herself forced to sprint for a few moments to keep up with her current form of aggravation, certain something unpleasant would happen should she fail to do just that. Her legs were already aching, since she wasn't quite as used to travel as she might have been last year, but Rin seemed perfectly at ease with their pace.

Eventually they came onto a large open plain, and in the distance she saw the strange figure of the dragon-mount that always seemed to follow Inuyasha's brother. As they approached nearer she saw Jaken's pouting figure, though he turned when he sensed them.

"Sesshomaru-sama!" Jaken's toad face lit up, though he seemed not to notice the miko trailing behind.

"What took so long, milord?"

Sesshomaru stopped, and Kagome sighed. "Listen, I don't…"

There was a mewling sound, causing Kagome to look around for it. "Ssh, we are back now! Rin will help!" Rin was laughing again, crawling on her knees beneath AhUn.

What? "Help who?"

Rin giggled underneath AhUn's stomach, and there was another small sound. "Yes, ok! You win!" There was laughter from the girl, though the wrinkle in Kagome's brow only got deeper.

"Sesshomaru? I don't understand."

The stoic male did not answer, or even spare her a glare, and seemed completely focused on the invisible air blowing his hair back.

Moron.

Rin was laughing underneath AhUn, and Jaken could not stop moving from foot to foot. "What is the miko doing here? Isn't that Inuyasha's silly wench, Lord Sesshomaru?"

"This silly wench will kick your…"

"Enough." Sesshomaru sent Jaken a glare, who bowed immediately.

"So sorry, milord."

"Rin."

The girl was giggling, and Jaken sighed. Moving to take AhUn's reins, he urged the large creature to its full stature. It made a sound but did, in a moment, ease onto the pads of its huge appendages. Jaken urged Ah and Un away, revealing the two forms underneath.

Rin sat with something in her lap, the something currently wriggling and mewling to her. Kagome's jaw dropped, eyes finally focusing enough to realize what she was looking at.

Shoulder-length white hair, and a small body clad in a dark blue haori and kimono. It froze, white hair swishing as the little thing turned in her lap. Big gold eyes flitted between them both, mewling nervously after a moment.

"Ssh. It's Kagome! She can help, right?"

Her tongue was currently frozen, so she was unsure whether or not she could do anything. She could only take in the little purple moon above thin eyebrows, and the single light blue stripes on either cheek.

"Kagome? Please?" Rin asked, and Kagome swallowed hard. Tearing her eyes away from the child, she looked at Sesshomaru, who was as of yet still mostly silent. Chilling eyes fell on her, and she bit her lip.

"You will tend him."

Wide-eyed, she nearly spluttered out her next words.

"Me? I can't stay here!" Nothing else but running back to Inuyasha filled her mind at the moment, because said hanyou would be sure to panic as soon as her presence was noticed missing.

"But Kagome, he's hungry!" Rin spoke up, pleading with large brown eyes.

"Then feed him! But I have to get back to Inu…"

A white hand circled her throat then, as well as an overwhelming pressure as she was lifted into the air. Kagome dug her dull nails into his hand, even though she knew it would do nothing.

"Miko."

"But Inu…" The hand clenched, and all ability to speak was instantly lost.

"You shall care for him, or you shall die. This Sesshomaru suggests you choose carefully."

Her vision was becoming a little blurry, and she couldn't move at all. Making choking sounds, she ceased attempting to scratch the hand that held her aloft.

She hit the ground, choking as her body processed the air burning her throat.

"Have you chosen, miko?"

She could stay here until Inuyasha could come for her, right? Apparently he needed someone to take care of the kid, for now, and she'd rather not die just yet. Not if she could help it. Inuyasha could save her, if she could keep from provoking the insane elder inu long enough for him to track their scents.

"Ok," she coughed, trying to regain normal function in her body.

"Very well then." Sesshomaru turned, and his retreating figure left her immediate line of sight.

"Kagome?" Rin tugged on her shoulder, and she raised one eye to meet the anxious face looming over her. "He needs someone to help. Jaken-sama is not very good at taking care of him."

Gasping for air, she was finally able to settle her nerves. Rubbing her neck she could feel the large bruise that was already beginning to form, and Rin's eyes ran over her then.

"Are you ok now, Kagome?"

"I am perfectly capable to taking care of you two, Rin! How could you say that?" Jaken sounded wounded, and Rin raised her head.

"It's hard to help both of us, Master Jaken."

"Why would we need a stupid human girl? Especially the filthy hanyou's wench!" Snorting the imp turned his attention to the silent figure in blue, who had not moved since being abandoned by Rin.

Kagome fixed her eyes on him once more, watching as Jaken kneeled down next to him.

"Sesshomaru's kid?" Now that her life wasn't in immediate danger, she could take in the absurdity of this situation.

"We think so. Sesshomaru-sama hasn't really said anything about him."

Kagome swallowed, still hurting.

It probably will for a while, now. Jerk! He could've asked for help, maybe then I wouldn't want to purify him!

He mewled again, and Kagome growled to herself.

"How old is he?" she nearly whispered.

Rin shrugged. He was not speaking, though he was of a good enough size. He seemed bright enough, following their movements.

"He will not eat meat, though I have tried numerous times to feed him," Jaken snorted.

That young, then. No mention of his mother, or any sign of her either. And Sesshomaru definitely wasn't going to be explaining anything to her anytime soon either. She watched him, and Rin giggled.

"Yuki, don't!" Rin went forward, adjusting him away from Jaken. The toddler clung to Rin, mewling for the girl's attention again. A moment later there was the rumble of a hungry stomach.

First things first, then. If only he'd let me go get my bag!

"Milk, or gruel…" she rasped, feeling each word burn.

"Jaken-sama, we need milk." Rin looked up at him expectantly.

He sighed. "Yes, I know."

Kagome got to her feet, coming closer. She sat in front of Rin, who was rocking the baby soothingly while humming. "Here," she said, and Rin blinked.

"Can you feed him, Kagome?"

"No, but I'd like to see him. Can you do that for me?" Rin nodded, and Kagome touched the sleeve of his arm.

His head swiveled around, nose twitching as she froze. After a moment then he blinked, leaning forward to sniff more closely to her skin.

"It's ok, Yuki." Rin soothed, allowing Kagome to lift the youkai pup from her lap, resting him on her knee.

He was thin in the face, making his eyes seem that much larger. Yuki sniffed at her, silent, and she brushed his bangs back from his face. He watched her, and even Jaken seemed to be out of things to complain about.

"You hungry, little guy?"

So maybe Sesshomaru needed help. He was still a jerk.

"He's been crying, Kagome. So we came to get you." With her throat the way it was, the questions would need to be put off for now.

"Ok. Need milk."

Jaken cleared his throat. "Where miko?"

"Is there a village nearby?"

Jaken shifted from foot to foot again, readjusting the staff in his hands. "Miko, how…"

"He needs milk. Village." Kagome glared, trying to talk around a numb throat, and Jaken rolled his eyes.

"Stupid wench! If you think that Sesshomaru-sama will allow…"

"Very well." The taiyoukai spoke, and Kagome looked back. He stood there watching, reappearing as if he were a ghost.

"B-but Lord Sesshomaru…"

"Bring the pup, miko." Sesshomaru spoke, turning quickly as he did so.

Kagome rose, adjusting the pup on her hip, and glanced at the two members left of his group. "But what about Rin and Jaken?"

"They shall remain here until we return." With that he spoke no more, and she hurried to catch up. She was very quickly out of breath, not expecting her injury to have impeded her so much.

She walked closely behind him, moving Yuki on her hip. "Sesshomaru?" Her voice was not much more than a rasp and she felt so very exhausted.

"It will not be much further." An answer? Wow. She hadn't expected that.

"He's yours?" She took his silence for a yes. "How old?"

"He is past his first year."

A year old? She would've thought him to be older than that. "Youkai pups grow faster, then?" Because he definitely wasn't hanyou.

The nails gripping her shoulders hurt, but she had bigger priorities at the moment. Glancing down at the little weight hanging onto her she could feel how skinny he was through the clothes that were hanging on him, and he lowered his eyes under her gaze.

Silence once more. She wanted to strangle him until he answered her questions, but that wasn't an option. Only a dream. Sigh.

The village was down below, and she waited to see if he would follow her. Instead he held out a coin from the palm of his large hand, and she blinked up at him.

"Return soon. Leave the pup here."

"Bring the milk here?" They were on the outskirts of the village, and she was a bit confused.

"Indeed."

Kagome felt awkward, but nodded. She set the pup down on the forest floor, on the outskirts of the large field separating them from the human village. Sesshomaru did not move, not that she really expected him to, and fisted the coin in her hand.

"I'll be right back."

She turned, hurrying away. Maybe if she took a little longer once she was in the village, Inuyasha would have more time to come find them.

Inside, she found the nearest home she could, bargaining with the headman of the town for a cup and a bucket of milk. How long had that kid been hungry anyway? Jaken had apparently hunted for him before today, but he wouldn't eat it. Was he weaned yet? Could he use the bush by himself? Somehow she doubted it, and the image of Jaken red-faced as he tried to help the pup made her giggle.

Thanking the man she left the village; change from the bartering jingling in her pocket.

Sesshomaru lounged underneath the tree she had left him at, the pup crawling beside the taiyoukai's arm, crawling on his belly underneath his large sleeve. She set the bucket down, and saw the pup's head rise as his nose detected the scent of his meal.

"That's right. Dinner." Kagome kneeled, and the pup took a moment to get to his feet. Unsteadily he tottered over to Kagome under the eye of Sesshomaru, and she set him on her knee.

She dipped the cup in, holding it close to the pup's nose. He mewled loudly, wriggling.

"There we go," she whispered, holding it against his mouth. "Yuki?"

The pup drank greedily, eyes closing. Kagome patiently helped him angle the cup that he tried to hold in his hands, and kept him from drinking too quickly. Meanwhile her eyes caught the small, perfect nails on his hands that dug into the sides of the cup, leaving small impressions around the nails. Small, perfect white nails.

It took no time at all for the pup to drink himself through several cups, a fair amount of the small bucket she had managed to gain.

Eyes drooping drowsily, he yawned. She took note of the round, flat teeth, surprised that there were no fangs in his mouth.

"No fangs?" Kagome asked curiously. She raised her eyes to the quiet taiyoukai who stared at her calmly. He did not answer, of course, and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Fine. Don't answer."

She let the pup rest against her shoulder, deciding to take a few drinks of the milk herself. It was cool going down her throat, and soothing to the irritated muscles of her esophagus. She still felt angry at him, though she could understand a bit more why she was needed.

There was still a little milk left and the pup was near to rolling over as stretched full as his stomach was now. Oh well. Sesshomaru was no longer resting against the foot of the tree, and she glanced around.

There. He was standing again, as silent as only he could be, and she rolled her eyes.

"We will leave now, miko."

"Fine." She got to her feet, balancing the drooping baby on her hip.

Inuyasha, hurry. I don't know how far he'll travel tonight.

She leaned down to pick up the bucket, setting the cup inside. It would probably come in handy later. Hurriedly she set off after his already retreating form, thinking of particularly painful objects to hurl at his backside under her breath.

Rin and Jaken were waiting when they got back.

Rin came running towards them as soon as they were within sight. "Sesshomaru-sama? Did the baby get fed?"

"Yes, Rin," Kagome answered for him. Rin beamed, coming to stand by Kagome's leg.

"Is he happy now?"

"He looks happy." According to the drool dampening her shoulder, he was very much so.

"That's good," Rin bit her lip.

Jaken took the bucket from her, running over to AhUn and attaching it to his saddle.

"Does he have any diapers? Or can he…"

"They're in the saddle, Kagome. It made Jaken more green!" Rin giggled into her hands, and Kagome was hard pressed to abstain from joining her.

Sesshomaru was already moving, and Rin turned. "Come on then Kagome! Wait for me Sesshomaru-sama!" Rin sprinted after him, leaving Jaken to collect AhUn and Kagome to follow.

---

He never tired, and he never seemed to give them a second thought.

Kagome held Yuki on AhUn's back, exhausted. Rin slept against her back, and the baby youkai seemed quite content to sleep on her shoulder. Her arms ached, and she needed a rest, but the two others seemed to find this all perfectly natural.

At least Inuyasha would give them a rest. Sesshomaru's footsteps never stopped, and his hair was always getting blown around. It annoyed her, and she had the maniacal dream of cutting those oh-so-perfect tresses just to get even with him.

Big show-off idiot. Inuyasha's hair was just as pretty when he let her brush it out.

The pup mewled low in his dream, shifting a bit. She sighed, letting her eyes close. Why is this baby so thin? Doesn't Sesshomaru know how to feed his own kid? Why does he need me here, or is this another chauvinistic fight with his brother?

Jaken led AhUn still, and she was almost certain that even as weak a youkai as he was he would still have more stamina than her or the kids.

Stupid youkai.

Was Inuyasha still sick? Had they noticed her absence yet? How long would it take his senses to clear enough to track her? She missed him dearly now. Poor sick Inuyasha, waking up to find her gone. What would he think?

The pup nuzzled her stomach, distracting her from her thoughts. He made a sound as he tightened his arms around her and yawned. Rin's weight against her back made her extremely tired, and the day was nearly over.

Would she get to sleep, or would he continue all night? Surely he wouldn't get tired, especially if she were to use Inuyasha as any measurement. He didn't even have the sensibility to let them stop either, did he? At least Inuyasha understood human weaknesses, but would Sesshomaru care?

Probably not.

"Sesshomaru-sama? Could we please stop?" Even Jaken was yawning in front.

"Hn."

What did that mean? "Is that a yes?" Kagome asked irritably.

They were still walking, though he did stop once they came to a cave. "It will rain," Sesshomaru pronounced.

Oh great. Still, she woke Rin, who protested weakly, before clambering off AhUn's back and hurrying into the cave. That meant a fire, and she didn't even have the energy for it at the moment.

Setting Yuki down on the old straw inside, Jaken brought in AhUn and Rin walked in slowly. The large two-headed dragon turned in place before lying down again, eyeing her with a sound as she moved inside the tall cave.

"Going to start a fire." Kagome coughed.

Sesshomaru stood outside, looking somewhere off into the distance. If he didn't answer, she assumed that meant he had no problem with it. At least she might be able to stall between taking care of Yuki and these other two.

What irritated her was that she was trying to make an effort at being cordial, even after he'd kidnapped her and tried to kill her, but what did he care? Nothing.

Gathering the wood, she dropped it at the entrance to the cave. Her own stomach was rumbling, and she glanced at Jaken. "Could you catch us dinner, Jaken?"

"Stupid wench, whatever." Grumbling, the old caretaker let the cave and she rolled her eyes. Kneeling down she used some of the old straw, remembering Sango-chan's lessons about starting a fire.

Rin sat watching, Yuki resting his head in her lap. The human girl was rubbing his white hair, seemingly very comfortable with the pup. "How long will you stay, Kagome?"

"I don't know. Inuyasha will come sooner or later." And then there'd be a fight like none other. Just thinking about it made her tired.

"But what about Yuki? Jaken-sama can't take care of him."

"I'm sure Sesshomaru will think of something, Rin. Don't worry." The girl was thinking very hard, and Kagome protected the small sparks she had successfully created.

"But he's a baby. And Sesshomaru-sama needs your help."

"He doesn't need anyone's help. It'll be fine." Kagome tried to ignore the doubts she was having, glancing at the face of the sleeping pup in the girl's lap.

"But he wouldn't have brought you if he didn't need your help." Rin spoke quietly, playing with the loose strands of his hair that hung down in his face.

"Drop it, ok?

"Yes, Kagome." Rin lowered her gaze again, making Kagome feel bad. The girl really did need a mother, and Yuki needed a proper caretaker. But she couldn't stay.

At least the fire was starting nicely. She heard Jaken's hoot of success, and then Rin's subsequent giggle.

"Jaken-sama is so silly."

The old caretaker ran into the cave, brandishing his catches of the day. "Look Rin!"

"Oh Jaken-sama! You're so amazing!" The girl's face lit up at the old imp, and Kagome couldn't help a small smile.

"See, you silly wench! I can take care of them!"

"Of course," she smiled, taking the fish from him. Jaken plopped himself on the other side of the growing fire, looking very satisfied with himself.

I guess after taking care of Rin so long it's kinda important to him. That's kind of sweet. The old toad.

She started preparing the fish, repressing a yawn. The day was fading fast, as was her strength. With the fish finally over the fire she leaned back against the cave wall, closing her eyes. Inuyasha would come find her soon, and then she could go home for a rest. Between her worry for him and anxiety over not being with her friends, she was slowly becoming mentally drained. If only she could close her…

---

She was startled awake by the sound of thunder, and the cry of a voice. Looking down she saw a small face looking up at her, crying loudly as another flash of lightning ran through the sky outside.

"Kagome, he's scared of storms!"

Sharp nails dug into her skin and she winced. Another whimper convinced her to rise up, feeling the sore muscles in her back protesting her slumber against the cold stone of the cave wall. It was pitch black except for the light of the fire, and she yawned.

"Sesshomaru-sama isn't back yet Kagome!" Rin was close by her leg, trying to rub the back of the little inuyoukai.

"What?"

Yuki whined, burying his face into her chest. "Ssshhh baby. It's just a storm," she touched his back distractedly, fighting to get her bearings right now. Couldn't she get a little bit more sleep?

Rin looked wide-eyed up at her and she bit her lip. "We didn't want to wake you up, but Sesshomaru-sama isn't here. I'm sorry."

Kagome touched the girl's head with her other hand, sighing. "That's ok. Don't worry about it Rin."

Rin nodded, eyeing Yuki worriedly. He still had his face buried in the white of her shirt, flinching with every flash of lightning or the fear-inspiring boom of thunder. "You're safe Yuki. It's only a little rain."

Where was Sesshomaru? Here she was stuck babysitting for his kid and he was nowhere to be found. Ugh! Jerk!

"Ssshh. We're safe here in our cave, ok?"

"Na tou mien," a little voice whispered. He spoke? Utter nonsense, but he was talking to her.

"That's right baby. Nothing's going to get you now," she whispered. The pup clung to her, and Rin came a little closer.

Kagome saw the want in Rin's eyes. She wanted to be comforted too. "Rin?" The girl looked up, blinking lightly. "Want to hug him?" She urged the girl forward, which she did so immediately.

Now she had two kids in her lap, Rin petting Yuki's head motherly.

"Watou. Na." She felt warmth sink through the front of her shirt, and realized the kid was crying.

"Oh no Yuki! Don't cry!" Rin hugged him, and she wrapped both arms around the two.

"Jaken, do you know where Sesshomaru went?"

"He never says." Of course; the jerk couldn't be bothered to tell anyone anything that might make anything easier! Ugh!

"Good baby," Rin cooed. Yuki quieted in a little while and she took a breath. The little quivers from the skinny toddler were making her nervous. How could Sesshomaru's son be so frightened by a storm? Didn't he know that about his own baby?

The wind blowing in from the rain felt good to her warm skin, but she was still overly tired. She so needed a bath, and a long nap, but apparently she wasn't going to get either tonight.

She eased them so that she could lie down, cuddling both to her chest. Kagome closed her eyes, exhausted. She heard Jaken's grumble as he re-stoked the fire.

"Sleep, ok? I'm sure he'll be back by the morning, children." Kagome sighed, resting her head down on her arm as she threw her other one over the combined bodies of Rin and Yuki.

Yuki made another sound and Rin shushed him. Kagome drifted off once more to the sounds of the wind and the crackling of the fire.

---

She heard a low whine, and something wet touched her face. Confused, she opened one eye. Bright gold eyes watched her very closely, and a tongue reached out to lick her cheek again. "Nama sa."

Oh yeah. She'd almost forgotten where she was.

She leaned up and away from the pup in front of her face, feeling the bright sunshine coming inside from the new day. Still no Inuyasha then. She looked down, feeling the small hands of Sesshomaru's baby leaning on her thigh as he scrambled to crawl back into her lap.

There was Rin's giggle, right on cue, as Yuki attempted to get in another lick.

"Quit that, Yuki," Kagome sighed.

"Gafa."

Complete stupidity, but at least the baby was making some kind of sounds. "Yeah, yeah, I know." He nuzzled her collarbone again, growling softly in contentment.

"It stopped raining, Kagome!" Rin announced, and she nearly rolled her eyes.

"Ok, ok guys." She stood up with the pup on her hip, blinking her eyes with the new brightness of the day. It was still slightly damp outside, but nothing that couldn't be handled.

"Oh," Jaken's nose wrinkled, and Kagome raised her eyebrow.

"What?"

"The pup needs cleaning."

Oh. She could imagine what that meant. "Rin, can you find the extra diapers in AhUn's saddle please?"

Why hadn't he cried though? Babies always cried when they mussed themselves. Yet Sesshomaru's toddler hadn't made a sound, other than to greet her consciousness with sounds of happiness. He was toddler-sized and he could walk, (if a bit unsteady), and he seemed very alert. Youkai definitely aged differently then. Hmm.

"Here Kagome!" Rin brought her the bundle, and she took it from her.

"Thank you Rin."

Jaken made no attempt at protest, and he seemed quite content to watch as she made her way to the small pond outside.

Definitely a morning person, Yuki yipped happily and did not want to stay still long enough for her to get a new diaper on him. Rin helped her to keep Yuki with his back to the ground as she eased him out of the dirtied white linen, slipping the fresh one on, putting the other one aside so that she could wash it. It was a struggle, one that Kagome was quite happy to put behind her. Jaken brought her cloths from AhUn's saddle so that she could clean him up again. Jaken smelled the air, nodding once he was content that there was no residual scent.

Rin played with the baby a short distance away while she got water for their breakfast before she set to cleaning the old diaper. "Why didn't he cry, Jaken?"

"It is a preservation matter. Some things take preference when there is surviving to be done." Jaken shrugged, switching the staff of two heads to his other hand.

"But that's ok, because Yuki is cute!" Rin giggled, bending down to kiss the little inuyoukai on the nose. The toddler yipped, looking back to Kagome with a smile.

"And he doesn't have fangs yet because…."

"Milk teeth." Oh. Kind of like humans, then, except that most human toddlers did not have a full set by their one-year mark.

Or would get razor-sharp replacements soon thereafter.

"Ok then. Where's Sesshomaru?"

Silence, except for the sound of giggling as Rin kissed Yuki all over his face.

"The idiot! He can't really expect to leave me with all of you while he just goes off and does whatever he wants, can he?" No one answered and she realized how sore her throat still was.

"Jerk!"

"Miko." Sesshomaru stood on the edge of the small pond's clearing, standing there to watch them interact.

"Ca tou!" Yuki yipped happily, running on unsteady feet towards the intimidating male. Tripping he landed near his feet, quickly recovering enough to straighten up and hug the stoic Sesshomaru around the calf. Yuki giggled, squeezing the silk-clad leg of Sesshomaru tightly.

Kagome crossed her arms; that was probably all the affection that he allowed the poor thing. She narrowed her eyes. "Where were you?"

"This Sesshomaru needs not answer." Calm, apathetic eyes met hers. She had the overwhelming urge to shake the life out of him at that instant, forcing herself to press her fists to her sides.

"You can't just leave, Sesshomaru! What about your kid?"

He looked down slowly at the pup hugging his leg so ferociously. "He seems to be in good condition."

Kagome's jaw dropped, and she stood up. "You…you!"

"We leave now." Yuki nuzzled Sesshomaru's leg affectionately, whining.

"That is your kid, you big idiot! You can't just ignore him!" Kagome felt anger irritating her sore throat, but some things just came first.

"Is there a problem, girl? Can you not tend to his needs?"

"You are the most insensitive jerk I've ever met!" She wanted to hit him so badly! Now she could understand why Inuyasha always liked fighting with him. He deserved it! "Abandoning your son when he is afraid of lightning, you baka youkai! Where were you last night?"

Narrowed golden eyes were on her, but she didn't care. "You should learn to take care of him, not forcing me to stay here and be your nanny!"

Rin tugged on her skirt, but she ignored the child.

"Why is he so skinny, Sesshomaru? You are such a…"

"Silence!" Sesshomaru's voice was chilling, and she remembered then who she was and exactly who she was talking to. And with no Inuyasha as a buffer, "Foolish girl!"

"I can't stay here and we both know it! So why don't you just let me go home!" She could hear the slight whine to her own voice and it bothered her.

"Run to your little hanyou then if you so wish." She was breathing hard in her anger, and she turned. "There is no longer any need for you to stay and play nursemaid, human."

"I do 'so wish' you big stupid jerk."

Something hit her in the back, and she glanced to see if he was going to kill her. Lying in the mud at her heels was a kimono, of dark green, spotted from where it now lay.

"Run home little girl." A hand plucked Yuki from his feet, setting the boy on AhUn's back. Sesshomaru tucked both arms into his sleeves, turning without another glance at her.

A kimono? Was it for her?

"But…" Rin blinked her eyes, looking back and forth between Sesshomaru's retreating back and the frozen future girl.

A new kimono? Was that where he'd been?

"Follow, Rin."

"But what about Kagome?" Rin bit her lip, meeting the eyes of the pup on Ah and Un's back.

"Leave her."

"But Sesshomaru-sama…"

"Enough, Rin."

Even Jaken seemed a tad sorrowful. Kagome bent down to pick up the now-soiled kimono, feeling the nice fabric move along her fingers. Rin waved goodbye before hurrying after the tall youkai, and Jaken waited a moment.

"He will not be well cared for, you realize." Jaken whispered to her. Kagome was confused, looking up at the imp in front of her. "Sesshomaru-sama is very proud, and he will not admit to needing you."

Kagome's tongue was still again, and she could only watch the others leaving. "But Inuyasha and…"

"Go then, but you should know he was trying to repay you for your time." Jaken cleared his throat, turning quickly and running after Sesshomaru as quickly as his short legs would take them.

A wise word from Jaken? What?

She found herself rising up, clearing her throat. "Wait! Sesshomaru!" She hurried forward, knowing he could still hear her. He did not stop, and she ran after him then through the trees. "Sesshomaru, stop!"

He did, casting one angered eye back at her. "I'm sorry, all right? I just didn't know where you'd gone." Silence from him. Of course. If only he'd converse like any other logical being then they could probably get somewhere.

"Does this mean that you're going to come with us, Kagome?" Rin sounded hopeful, turning back from where she was.

How to state it and not injure his pride? Kagome thought for a moment, choosing her words carefully. "I need to follow, for now at least, until I can find some other way home. If I stayed out here alone I'd probably be killed."

"So be it." Without another cheery and heart-warming word he returned to his long strides, and that was all the reunion she received. Yuki blinked his eyes at her; she came to stand next to AhUn in order to pick him up and set him on her hip.

"Hey there baby." He didn't make a sound, but only buried his nose into the side of her neck. She rubbed circles into his back, sighing into the sweet baby-smell of his soft skin before she set to following her husband's older brother once again.

---

Yuki made a small whine, and it attracted her attention.

Jaken and Rin were catching food in the river at the moment, while Sesshomaru lounged beneath the shade of the nearest tree. She had taken water from the river, quenching her own thirst and that of the inu-pup's.

"You hungry again baby?" He cocked his head to the side, eyes following the way the wind caught her hair. She smiled, smoothing down some of his hair. "That's all right. I know what you mean."

These inu-males really did have the nicest hair. It was so unfair. Kagome smiled to herself, lightly running her fingers through the silky strands of the boy and marveling at how well the light was caught at the angles. She wondered vaguely if there was a brush somewhere in the saddlebags of the dragon. She wouldn't mind brushing her own tangled mess either, to think of it.

"Look Kagome, Sesshomaru-sama!" Rin held up her fish proudly, and Kagome offered a glance to the taiyoukai. He watched with bored eyes, never even blinking at the joy of the little girl. Was he really that cold of a fish himself, or that practiced? And who would want to be that distant? Where was the joy in it?

Several times the inu-pup tried to go towards the rushing current of the river, and she had to pull him back to sit with her. "No no no. We wouldn't want you to get swept away, would we?" He didn't answer her, just tilting his head up at her.

After they had finished catching their midday meal, Kagome set to making a fish-mash from their catches. Yuki watched with bright, avid eyes, making some sounds that had yet to have any intelligible meaning to it.

"I know, baby. Just a little longer, ok?"

She cooked it over the fire briefly, letting it cool a minute or so before she assisted him with his meal. It wasn't milk, but he seemed to be willing to eat it mashed up.

"Why will he eat it from you, girl?" Was that jealousy in Jaken's voice?

"You have to break things up for him. He isn't grown yet, Jaken." Kagome rolled her eyes, helping the little pup with his meal. When she looked back up and into Sesshomaru's general direction, he had disappeared again.

"Does he do that a lot? Just vanish?"

"It is not unusual." Jaken sighed, shaking his head. "Milord does not explain himself to us, usually, and he has always been very quiet by nature."

Even within his own group, with these two who practically kissed his shoes? How selfish could he be? "Don't you ever worry about him though?"

Rin nodded," Rin does."

"Silly human girl! What could possibly harm milord, hmm? Nothing! He is the greatest youkai in the land, stupid!" Jaken was another word from sticking his tongue out at her, as silly as it was, and Kagome giggled.

Yuki smacked his mouth noisily, and Kagome wiped his mouth with the end of her sleeve. Why would Sesshomaru distance himself so much even from Jaken, or Rin? Didn't he like Rin more than he liked almost anyone? His own son?

"Rin thanks you for the fish, Master Jaken." The girl hugged the imp around the neck very briefly before turning away to take a drink from the river.

"Hm. Silly little human brat." But his cheeks were a pink color, and he said none of his words with true anger.

So the old youkai cared for the little human girl, even though he might be rather gruff about it. That was rather sweet, in its' own way. Jaken sent an embarrassed glance at the miko, who said nothing.

Returning to the increasingly content pup, she helped him gather the rest of the mash from the bottom of the cup and tilted it so that he could finish eating.

"Good little baby," she rubbed the lower part of his back.

"Pup." Jaken corrected.

"What?"

"He is not a baby. He is a pup," he stated.

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes.

"You should address the little one as such."

"Ok. Good little pup." Kagome snorted, bending down to kiss him atop his white head.

"See? It is not so hard, girl."

Rin giggled, and soon Jaken found himself amidst a storm of flowers. Yuki sneezed, and Jaken shook himself. "Now Master Jaken is pretty!"

"I am not pretty! Take that back!" The two set to squabbling, and Kagome sighed. Maybe Sesshomaru left to get away from the bickering. Little hands were tugging on her shirt again and she covered them.

"Don't rip it ok?" she asked quietly. Yuki sat in her lap, and he nodded. He kept staring up at her and it made her a little uncomfortable. Sure, he was a kid, but he had Sesshomaru's stare.

"What?" Kagome wrapped another strand of his hair around her finger, worried that maybe he knew something she didn't. He seemed quite content to let her look at him though, so she rolled her eyes. "I wish you would just tell me what you want."

He giggled, snuggling closer to rest his head on her chest. Feeling the little rapid heartbeat through her shirt she had to relax, petting his hair again. Poor baby. He's so desperate for attention that he's happy just to have someone look at him.

He was soon looking away for his entertainment though, and Rin took notice. "Yuki! Do you want to play with Rin?" A certain little girl was certainly enough to attract the inu-pup's attention again and he eased out of her lap to go towards Rin.

Jaken was smiling. The pup crouched down on all fours to growl playfully at Rin, who faked terror and ran around in circles with the baby nipping at her heels. With one final lunge the two went tumbling, earning a gasp from Kagome.

"Rin, be careful! Don't…" her warning was useless, as Rin didn't land on Yuki and the pup sat triumphantly on her chest, licking her face.

"You win!" she giggled, holding up her hands to try to escape that rough tongue. He whimpered when she didn't let him continue, a yip escaping him when she gave him a lick on the cheek in return.

Kagome used her free time to finish eating her own meal, which had started to seem like an impossibility. Inside, she was struggling.

"Did Sesshomaru try to feed him, or did he immediately come to get me? How long has he been with you Jaken?"

"Sesshomaru-sama returned about two weeks ago with Yuki and no explanation. The pup clung to him for several days before he was befriended by Rin. He gets hungry often, but when we tried to feed him deer, or fish, he threw up. I think he grew frustrated and went to fetch you. Listening to the pup's stomach wasn't pleasant."

"But where's his mother, Jaken? Why doesn't he know how to take care of him?"

"It is not something he has had a lot of practice with, girl. Rin can fend for herself as long as she's protected, but the pup is helpless." Jaken sighed. "As for his mother, I do not know."

"Yuki! I give up!" Rin giggled, tipping over. The pup tumbled a few feet away, rolling onto his feet and turning back to "attack" the girl again.

"And where is he traveling towards? Because he never seems to get there."

"I don't know!" Jaken rolled his eyes.

"Jaken…"

"OI!"

She knew that voice. She looked up, seeing the red leaping over the trees. "Inuyasha!" She squealed, leaping to her feet and rushing towards where he would land. As soon as he did she was enveloped in his huge sleeves, burying her nose into his shoulder. Relief at having her hanyou so close ran freely through her, and tears leaked from her eyes against her will.

"Are you ok? Damn it Kagome, you scared us!" She could sense him scenting her for injury, before finally allowing the muscles tensing along his body to relax minutely. "Kagome, what happened?"

She heard a loud meow from Kilala, and she opened an eye to see her other friends landing behind him. "Kagome-chan?"

"Lady Kagome? Are you all right?"

"Kagome!" Shippo cried out. She was too intent on her hanyou to leave his arms at the moment, squeezing him tightly for a moment before leaving his arms to embrace Shippo.

"Are you ok, Shippo?"

Inuyasha's eyes focused on the fading bruise on her neck, and she saw his jaw clench. "I'll kill him."

"Inuyasha, wait-," Kagome warned.

"Sesshomaru, you bastard! Where are you?" Inuyasha called out, growling.

"Wait, Inuyasha, you don't…"

"He kidnapped you, wench! And he hurt you!"

"But it wasn't…It's just…"

"Kagome?" The voice of the little girl startled them all, and she turned towards the girl in orange. "Are you going to leave us now?"

"Damned right she is!" Inuyasha growled out, and Rin nodded. She watched his eyes flit to the small figure next to her, a wrinkle coming into his brow.

"Inuyasha, I don't…"

"What is that?"

He leapt forward, sending the little pup backwards in surprise. Yuki cried out as the hanyou leaned over him, as Inuyasha looked him over. Kagome could see how scared he was by his big eyes.

"Inuyasha-"

"Well I'll be. The bastard had a pup."

"You're scaring him, Lord Inuyasha!" Rin protested, and he glanced up at the girl. Yuki whined loudly, scrambling out from Inuyasha and crawling behind Rin.

"I'm not gonna hurt the little idiot!" He snorted, leaning back on his haunches.

"Stop terrorizing the baby Inuyasha!"

"Keh!" He rose, turning on Kagome. "He's had you brat watching or something? Is that it?"

"You stupid filthy hanyou! Just leave!" Jaken stood in front of Rin, brandishing the staff he wielded.

"I ain't going anywhere without killing my moron of a brother!" Inuyasha tucked his arms into his sleeves, turning towards Kagome.

"Kagome?"

She tightened her jaw, eyes falling on the little pup that hugged Rin from behind. "It's ok Yuki. Inuyasha's more bark than bite." He continued peering his eyes out from underneath Rin's sleeve. The poor little thing was shaking with fear.

"Oi, you two? Can you take Kagome away from here?"

"I'm not going anywhere, stupid!" Kagome huffed, marching past him to sit within the group. "Come here baby," she cooed. Yuki scrambled to her lap, burying his nose into the comforting curve of her neck.

"Kagome?"

She focused her attention on calming the little rapid heartbeat pounding through the pup's skin, humming something unconsciously while trying to ignore the curious looks from her friends. Yuki's little muscles were quivering with fright, and she set to easing the little boy's terror.

"Sshh, it's ok."

"Kagome!" Inuyasha's voice was colored with disbelief, and from the looks of her two human friends it seemed they agreed.

"You frightened the little thing to death!" Kagome gasped.

"That's Sesshomaru's pup, stupid!"

"I know that!" She glared over Yuki's shoulder at him, watching the hurt coming into Inuyasha's eyes.

"But…"

"He came to get me, ok? Yeah, Sesshomaru kidnapped me but…"

"But what wench! He's tried to kill us before, remember!"

"Yuki needs me, ok?" She spat out, feeling the trembles running through the little baby in her arms. He was probably petrified at all the new smells, and the anger evident in the air. Babies were supposed to be very sensitive to smell or something, right? And that was just human babies.

"Kagome, we are not staying! Sesshomaru can deal with his own kid so let's go!"

"Inuyasha!" Miroku cautioned, coming forward to rest a hand on the hanyou's angered shoulder.

"Baka! Why…"

"Inuyasha, silence!" Miroku hissed into his ear, seconding his words with a sharp hold into his skin.

"You can't tell me you feel sorry for that…"

Kagome wasn't answering, ignoring him. Yuki clung to her with his sharp nails, whining softly into her ears. Inuyasha's ear lay flat, and he felt the fight melt out of him. "But…"

"Inuyasha, Lady Kagome does not seem to want to leave the pup." Watching, Inuyasha realized that she did seem to be the new focus of their group. Even grumpy old Jaken seemed loathe to see her leave.

"Kagome, Sesshomaru ain't gonna put up with us being here, and I ain't lettin' you stay."

The miko was biting her lip when she raised her eyes to the confusion in her favorite gold ones. "I know that."

"So leave the pup, ok? Sesshomaru ain't gonna let the kid starve." Inuyasha spoke softly, and she closed her eyes.

But he might. He was starving when she'd got here, and she had the terrible feeling that he'd be uncared for if she did leave. Sesshomaru would probably leave the baby alone a lot, and children needed affection. Rin was practically starving for it, not to mention his little baby.

"Please Kagome?" Inuyasha pleaded, and she buried her eyes in the little inu-pup's shoulder.

"I don't want him to be hungry."

"He won't be. Now come on."

Kagome swallowed hard, putting the pup aside. He tried to cling to her but she shook his hands free, standing up.

"Inaso mai!" Yuki cried, and Kagome couldn't look at him. She walked past Rin, fighting the urge to look back.

"Come on. They'll be all right."

But she did look back, and the sight made her feel terrible. They looked so forlorn it nearly broke her heart. Jaken was sorrowful and Rin gave her a small wave. "Goodbye, Kagome." Yuki was tearing up, crying for her sadly.

"It's ok Kagome." Inuyasha's warm hand touched her arm, and she bit her lip.

"But Inuyasha…"

"He's right, Kagome. We can't leave you here." Miroku spoke calmly, like he always did, and she sighed.

"Your brother doesn't have any clue about how to take care of him Inuyasha. He was practically starving when I got here." Kagome met his eyes, and he didn't seem any happier to leave than she did.

"He's an idiot, but he can keep his own kid alive ok?"

"Inuyasha! I can't leave a baby alone to starve!" Kagome bit her lip, folding her arms.

"Kagome I know you're…"

"Hn."

Inuyasha's head immediately swiveled, as did all of theirs, to see the taiyoukai in white approaching. "You! You stupid bastard, you kidnapped her! My wife!"

Sesshomaru did not answer, allowing his eyes to fall to his group instead. "Is Kagome really leaving, Lord Sesshomaru?" Rin's small voice chirped.

Kagome watched, and a realization came to her. He would neither make her stay or force her to go, but she knew that whatever he might say that he had a true need for someone to help him with his little pup. And she hadn't realized that. How would she like it if she had to take care of a baby all by herself, without Inuyasha?

"You heartless bastard, you even hurt her!" She found herself being forced behind her hanyou, Miroku's hand around her wrist keeping her from wrenching forward if she should decide to do so.

He continued to be silent and watch his unhappy pup squirm.

Inuyasha snarled, allowing two day's worth of worry and frustration to fuel his new anger. "I'll slit your belly just to let the hot air out!" He made a move to draw the Tetsusaiga.

"Inuyasha, sit!" He crashed to the ground, and Miroku glanced back at her nervously.

"Lady Kagome?"

"I'm ok, Inuyasha!" Kagome nearly growled herself.

"Kagome-chan! Inuyasha has been worried about you!" Sango gasped.

"I know that!" Kagome shook herself free of Miroku's grip, rushing forward to stand next to Inuyasha's form. "But I can't leave that baby and I can't leave you either! I know that!"

"But it has to be one or the other! Please Kagome!" Sango urged, and she spared a look for her friend.

"The hanyou may stay," a calm voice spoke.

Everyone froze, and Kagome managed to meet the taiyoukai's gaze.

"W-What?" she stammered.

"This Sesshomaru does not repeat himself, girl." Those same calm eyes left hers, meeting those of his younger brother as he managed to shake off the aftereffects of Kagome's verbal command.

"Why would you do that?"

"I am no fool, Inuyasha, as foreign as that possibility might be to one such as you." An insult within an insult. Brilliant. Kagome rolled her eyes, aggravated with the insanity she was faced with.

"See, Kagome? How can you expect me to stay around that?" Inuyasha glared at the taiyoukai, and Kagome bit her lip.

Yuki was scared silent with all the anger in the air, and Rin pet down his hair obsessively. Blocking out the insults in the air around her, she focused on that image. Rin was pursing her lips unhappily, and Yuki was attempting not to cry. She saw one tear though, before Rin wiped it away, and the girl's head tilted to the side.

"I don't know what you've done to make her think she has to take care of the little whelp, but you're gonna…"

"This Sesshomaru finds himself in the position to overlook your existence." Golden eyes watched the child sitting sadly on the ground, and Kagome tried to interrupt their fight.

"Who the bloody hell do you think you are anyway? If you need someone to look after the brat you can go find yourself some youkai bitch, but leave Kagome alone!"

Furious eyes flitted back to Inuyasha's form, and the members of his pack with holy powers could sense the sudden stirring of youki. Miroku cleared his throat," Inu…"

"Where's the little idiot's mother anyway? Don't tell me you killed your own bi…" A fist knocked Inuyasha backwards, and they moved to avoid being crushed by flying hanyou.

"You will be silent!"

"Sore spot there then?" Inuyasha snorted, warning Kagome with a look about interfering.

Rin was shushing Yuki, who was trying not to whine out of fear of attracting any negative attention. Kagome felt bad as she realized they were used to being nervous around so many people. They found it common to disappear when there was any discontent.

"This Sesshomaru has made his offer, miko." Obviously the inuyoukai could see where her attention was, and she met his eyes for a second.

"But we live at the village…" Kagome said softly, thinking.

"Kagome, you can't really want to…? With him?" Inuyasha cursed under his breath, "You can't be serious!"

"Inuyasha, I don't think any of us has a choice." To Sesshomaru," You could bring Yuki back to the village with us so that I could take care of him."

"Baka, you think I'm gonna let you make the orders around here?" He was speaking to the elder taiyoukai now, growling.

"Your opinion is of no matter."

"Like I'd believe that! That I'd let you near my pack!" " Inuyasha took a step forward, casting a glare back at Kagome.

"Your pack, little brother? Are you truly so ignorant?" Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed and Inuyasha let out a growl of frustration.

"Yeah! It's my damn pack!"

Sesshomaru growled himself, then, a low menacing thing that send chills running down the majority of their spines. Inuyasha tensed his muscles, ready for the next attack.

"Do you not realize that your pack is mine, fool?" Sesshomaru growled.

"You lie about everything! It's my pack, and if you think I'd ever trust…"

"Hanyou, do not claim bloodright on me!" Sesshomaru snarled, and a tint of red began to fill his eyes.

Bloodright?

"What are you talking about?" Inuyasha blurted, confused like the rest.

"Stupid!" Jaken snorted to himself quietly.

Sesshomaru sprinted forward then, and the two were lost to the nearby forest in their struggles. Sounds of scuffling echoed back from within the trees.

Kagome growled under her breath about stupid males. Inuyasha was trying to protect her, but this was not the right way. She made to chase after them, and would have if not for the hand grasping her elbow.

"Kagome, that would be a really bad idea!" Sango warned in a low voice, relaxing her hold.

"They're both idiots! Besides, it wouldn't…"

"You expect them to get along? Those two?" Shippo spoke dubiously.

"Well, no maybe, but…"

There was a curse from Inuyasha, followed by the sound of wood splintering. Rin met her eyes then, and Kagome blinked.

"Can you stop them, Kagome?" Kagome took a breath then, hearing the telltale signs of a nasty battle.

"I can try," she tried to run and would have if not for the arm that slipped around her waist. The force of her momentum sent her and her protector to the ground, and she heard a decidedly male groan.

"Ow," Miroku spoke quietly.

"Kagome, it would be very bad to interrupt this fight!" Shippo sounded nervous. What?

Miroku got up then, assisting her. "Why? They're both just so…"

"Bloodright, Kagome!" Shippo nearly hissed.

"You'd be hard-pressed to dissuade either of them right now," Miroku cleared his throat.

"I don't understand," she turned to Sango. Maybe the taijiya woud be able to explain this to her.

"Well…technically being older does give Sesshomaru the right to…"

"They're fighting for both packs, Kagome!" Shippo interrupted, practically bouncing on Miroku's shoulder.

WHAT?

"But why would he want it? That's just stupid," she groaned. It was! Sesshomaru liked his own little pack perfectly fine, from what she could see, and maybe not even them all the time!

"I would think that perhaps he needs you to tend to his pup, Lady Kagome." Miroku sighed.

"I'd do that anyway!"

"But not if Inuyasha takes you away!" Sango sighed, setting her large weapon beside herself, "And that's what we were intending, for a bit of normalcy again."

"So why can't I stop this, then, if you two seem to have expected it?" Kagome crossed her arms.

"What if Inuyasha had gone to face one of your Egg-sam youkai in your era? What would you think?" Shippo chirped.

"The word 'fail' comes to mind," she couldn't help but allow a small smile at the idea of pitting Inuyasha against one of her old Trig exams. He'd get so frustrated he'd throw a desk out of the window and call her a wench!

"Because it wouldn't be his fight, right? And this isn't yours. Leave it, Kagome," Shippo sighed, leaning against Kilala behind them. When did Shippo start growing up so?

She could feel a headache coming on; she rubbed the skin between her eyes.

"Ugh, baka youkai and their stupid weird rules!" Kagome huffed, returning her attention once more to the pair of children being spoken to by Jaken.

"Sesshomaru-sama will be back soon. No tears," he cautioned. Yuki did not look up, and only Rin nodded in understanding.

Kagome went to sit by them, bringing the upset children within the range for her weak ningen arms. She lifted them into her lap, settling the pair comfortably on either leg.

"Sssh, guys. Everything's fine," she soothed. Rin and Yuki both hugged her inside the safety of her arms, feeling that if she would come to hug them that it must mean the situation had been resolved. Yuki cried out loudly, only to be quickly quieted by the soft-spoken words of the miko.

"You don't have to be scared now, babies." Kagome sighed, feeling a little better now. Even Rin had buried her face into her shoulder, and she could sense the stress still rolling off the pair.

"You can be calm now, children," she whispered.

---

Meanwhile they set up camp around the fire Jaken had built earlier, waiting for the two brothers to settle the squabble in whichever way it ended.

Yuki glanced around at the others nervously, even as he watched Rin interacting with them. He was cautious to leave Kagome's warm arms, preferring instead to view them all with his bright golden eyes.

Miroku put a smile on his face as he met the eyes of the pup staring at him. "Hello there," he spoke quietly, giving the child a quick wink.

Yuki glanced at the bottom of Kagome's chin before returning his gaze to the houshi.

"So you are his child, then?" he said soothingly, rhetorically.

Kagome turned her face towards the monk, hearing the voice but none of the context. "Miroku, were you speaking to me?"

"Would you like me to, Lady Kagome?" His mischievous smirk raised its head, and she rolled her eyes.

"Houshi-sama!" Sango scolded, quickly tapping the back of her husband's head with her Hiraikotsu.

"Ita sa!" Yuki protested, tugging on the front of Kagome's shirt.

"What? Oh, Miroku's fine, Yuki."

But Yuki shook his head, making her sigh. "I promise you, ok?"

Miroku was now rubbing his head, putting on a mask of hurt martyr-ship. "It is quite all right, Yuki. Women are like that." Sango made another sound of irritation, even as the monk let a smile onto his face.

The pup scrambled down her leg, walking on his own two unsteady legs towards the figure of the "abused" monk. Miroku watched patiently as Yuki fell back onto his own behind, gazing up at the monk. "Are you all right?"

Yuki cocked his head, not responding. "I imagine you are, then," Miroku spoke as if to himself. Yuki reached his small clawed hand forward, catching a handful of his purple robes. He used his grip to leverage himself back onto his feet, standing before the man.

"Well, then," Miroku smiled. "Come to protect me from these overly-violent females?"

"Considering your behavior, we're not violent enough," Sango said darkly. As much as he still pretended sometimes, he had managed to put away his lecher's ways except for where Sango was concerned.

Bending closer Miroku whispered," See what I mean? Always with the threats."

Yuki giggled, pointing one clawed finger at the gold earring that caught the light. "What? You like it?" Yuki tilted his head, attempting to reach for the interesting bands poking themselves through Miroku's earlobe.

"I'll be sure to get you a set when you're a bit older then," he said wryly, "because surely Sesshomaru-sama would enjoy that, wouldn't he?"

Yuki laughed and Miroku was kind enough to bend forward a bit more to allow a hand to grasp at his ear. "Be careful, though. I would not want an injury." The pup laughed, tugging on the dark tail of hair sticking out in the air. Miroku was good natured enough to earn a bit of respect from the two very disrespecting women.

"Miroku." Sango spoke quietly. The monk's face was very much alive as he gazed down at the curious toddler. The young couple was hoping for a little one of their own soon to begin their family.

"Hn."

Looking up, they all found the tall taiyoukai lord approaching from the edge of the clearing. "Where's Inuyasha?" Kagome asked nervously.

"He will return later." Sesshomaru said simply, eyes finding the pup in the human man's lap. Miroku sighed, shrugging.

Yuki's eyes left the gold earring, finding his father's figure returned. "Saso!" The excitement in the pup's voice was not lost on anyone's ears, and Rin giggled.

"I think he missed you, Sesshomaru-sama!"

Sesshomaru's eyes wandered, finding his retainer nearby. "Jaken."

"Y-yes milord?"

"You will accompany me." Sesshomaru did not even blink over his pup, finding it more useful to instruct Jaken.

"Very well," Jaken nodded.

So it was that Sesshomaru and Jaken left them with Yuki and Rin, all the while wondering what had become of Inuyasha.

A few moments after they had retreated, Kagome sighed. "Miroku, would you watch him for me?"

"Of course, Lady Kagome."

What had become of Inuyasha? Was he ok? Kagome hurried away in the direction that Sesshomaru had arrived, certain that she would find her poor hanyou there.

"Inuyasha? Inuyasha?" There was no answer to her call, and her nerves became even more frazzled. "Inuyasha, please? Where are you? Are you ok? Inuyasha!"

"Keh."

It was spoken softly, barely enough for her to register it as his voice. Worried she raised her gaze to the trees around her, coming around before she saw the hint of red buried in the branches.

"Oh Inuyasha, are you ok?"

There was not an answer. "I'm so sorry, Inuyasha! I didn't know that it would mean that you'd get hurt!"

"I'm a'right, wench." He was speaking quietly, but clearly.

"Are you hurt badly? Will you come down? For me?"

"Just leave me alone, ok Kagome?"

"I can't, ok? I have to make sure you're all right, or I'll never forgive myself. I'm so stupid! How could I let this happen to you? I should've listened, and…"

He jumped down, and she searched him worriedly. "Inuyasha?"

Other than being a little scruffed up, and a bit dirtier than he usually was, it seemed that he was already fine. He avoided her eyes and his arms stayed high in his sleeves. "Inuyasha?"

"I told you I'm fine." He was pink in the face, but all right. She bit her lip, coming closer.

"You're really not hurt? What happened?"

"Nothing; just forget about it wench."

She threw her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder. His muscles were tensed up, but finally he sighed and allowed her a one-armed embrace.

"You're really ok?"

"I told you already! I'm fine!" Irritable, and standoffish. There was her hanyou.

She took in a deep breath of his warm scent, wondering what all of today might imply with their future. She pushed a little of his hair out of her face since it was tickling her nose. And then she gasped.

On the side of her poor hanyou's neck was a mark, resembling the ones she'd seen from vampire movies she'd watched that one night with Souta. This one was clean, though, and she saw that there was no sign of blood, but still!

"Inuyasha?"

Bristling he shoved her away, and she was almost certain that he purposely made sure that his hair covered it again.

"Inuyasha!"

"Shut up, ok?" His face darkened to a light shade of red, and he turned his face away from hers.

"Did your brother do that?"

"Brother," Inuyasha snorted," keh!" He closed his eyes, becoming still as stone.

"Inuyasha, I don't understand."

"That stupid brat of his is too little. So he needs a nursemaid!" Inuyasha growled lightly," We're gonna kinda merge packs for a while, ok?"

Oh Inuyasha. Kagome bit her lip, reaching to tug on his sleeve. "Inuyasha?"

"What?" He was annoyed with her and/or the world, which she could understand.

"Will you please look at me?" In that moment she was unsure whether or not she would be forgiven, or if he would even look at her. But finally he did open one eye, glaring at her from it.

"I'm so sorry, Inuyasha." He turned his full attention on her, straightening up to his full height.

"You'd better be, wench."

"But maybe this could be a good thing, do you think? I mean, you'll get to meet Yuki, and Rin can get the attention she craves..." Inuyasha rolled his eyes at her, and she dropped her gaze.

For someone as proud as Inuyasha, she could imagine how embarrassed he was. She shouldn't have made him come down, but then again how was she to have known? He could've been seriously hurt and he would have kept it from her, too.

"Hey," Inuyasha said quietly, tapping the outside of her arm lightly. She bit her lip, looking up. "Forget about it, ok?" She nodded her chin slightly, and Inuyasha blinked. They really were close, weren't they? She could feel herself blush, which he no doubt would notice.

"But I'm not going back right now, ok? So forget about it."

Another possibly sweet moment intervened. Kagome rolled her eyes, and the small gruff from the hanyou looming over her. "Especially not with that asshole still there."

"He and Jaken went somewhere. He does that a lot."

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow, but held his tongue. "So are you still gonna hide out here in the woods all by yourself?"

"Whatever." Inuyasha snorted, spinning away from her in another instant.

"Ok then. I'm still going to go get dinner ready for whenever you do decide to come back."

---

"This is just stupid." Inuyasha snorted, burying his arms inside his huge sleeves. He hadn't left Kagome's side since the two had returned from the forest, and he was being careful about hiding his neck under his hair.

"Oh hush," she rolled her eyes. They had built a fire, deciding to relax a bit, what with the rather large changes. Since Sesshomaru had disappeared into the trees, to the relief of everyone but Rin, they had settled down.

Inuyasha had received his promised dinner, and Kagome was relieved to see him attempting to calm his own emotions from the day. A full stomach always seemed to have that effect on her favorite guy. He downed it quickly enough as always, and she was once again reheating the rest of their catch.

Yuki sat watching Inuyasha especially with large curious eyes from where he leaned against her chest. "Hey Inuyasha?"

He half-turned to look at her, finishing his second cup. "Wha?" He had a mouth full of meat, quickly swallowing what he had left.

"I do think you scared him earlier."

"Keh." He let her take his clawed hand, offering it gently to the nervous inu in her lap. He leaned forward to sniff his uncle, glancing up at her before doing so. "See there Yuki? Is mean old Inuyasha so bad?"

"Ikka iaaha."

A wrinkled nose informed her about her hanyou's confusion, and she giggled. "He can't really speak yet. It's mostly just sounds."

Yuki stood in her lap, nearly falling as he made the distance from her leg and onto the ground. "Iyaya!"

"Hey, don't even think about…"

Inuyasha was wary, jerking when he felt the pup fall down onto his thigh. "Easy, Inuyasha!" Kagome warned as she saw the muscles of his hand make a fist, and he relaxed marginally.

Yuki looked up at the fuzzy ears twitching atop his head. He made a sound of absolute joy, eyes widening as he watched the twin ears twitching even more so with the new attention.

"No."

"Inuyasha," Miroku scolded, and he sent the monk a glare.

"Stay out of this houshi. How would you feel if grabby hands were always tuggin' on your ears?"

"Nervous, Inuyasha, about protecting their virtue?" Miroku could not restrain his smile, and the hanyou made a gruff sound in his throat as he heard the giggles of the girls.

"Why don't you all just shut up?"

"Inuyasha…"

"Everybody's always after my stupid ears!" Inuyasha protested, and Sango giggled. Kilala meowed her agreement, understanding the hanyou's problem as children frequently chased her tails.

Kagome sighed, reaching over to ruffle the pup's white hair. "He's just one big bluff, sweetheart." Yuki barked at his view of the underside of Inuyasha's chin.

"Iyaya sasa!"

The hanyou raised an eyebrow, glancing down at the pup who was attempting to clamber up his chest. "Is that me?"

Silence from the pup, except for a small tongue reaching out to show the hanyou affection. Inuyasha yelped, straightening up and out of the reach of him.

"Ugh!"

The others were giggling, and he shot them all glares.

"Iyaya." Yuki pronounced, and Inuyasha received another tug on his hair for his troubles.

"I think he likes you," Shippo giggled.

"Feh!" He glared at the pup in his lap, who gazed up adoringly at the only blood-member of his strange new pack. Yuki laughed too, standing up in Inuyasha's lap to peer closely at his half-uncle's face.

"Ina."

"Quit talkin' nonsense already pup!" Inuyasha growled out lightly, but Yuki never faltered. He only gripped Inuyasha about the neck tightly, burying his nose into the elder inu's neck.

Rin giggled, wandering closer.

"You should learn patience, my friend," Miroku spoke with his eyes closed, seemingly the honest monk. Inuyasha huffed, glaring at the purple-clad man, though it was hard to appear intimidating with a miniature inu-pup hanging around his neck.

"Patience? When's the last time you waited before cheating some villager, oh honest-monk!" Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

Then Kagome looked down at Shippo, who was watching Inuyasha with some emotion in his eyes.

What was this?

"Shippo, are you still hungry?" When his mouth was occupied with dinner again she relaxed. "So, ah, what have you been doing for the past couple of days?"

"It was horrible! You weren't there to keep Inuyasha from running us ragged!" Shippo sighed dramatically, rolling his eyes. Kagome ruffled his hair lightly, earning a swat on the back of her hand. "I was being serious!"

"Of course you were." She laughed.

Rin stood next to Inuyasha, earning a curious look from him. "What, kid?" Still trying to look tough with a happy baby around his neck, it made her giggle.

"Lord Inuyasha, Yuki likes you!" Rin reached out to finger Yuki's pointed ear, making the boy shift.

"Yeah, so what?" Inuyasha's voice rumbled.

She reached over to take his hand gently, squeezing it. His face softened when she did that, and he adjusted his head around Yuki to look at her again.

"Be nice to him for me, ok?" His eyebrows lowered, and she sighed. "Please?"

"Keh. Whatever Kagome." She knew that his 'keh' meant that he would, and she gave him a grateful smile. Yuki continued to purr, nuzzling his face against the curve of Inuyasha's neck.

"So are we gonna sit here all day or are we gonna go home?" he barked out softly. Without waiting for an answer Inuyasha rose, slipping an arm under the pup who made no move of releasing him, startling everyone else.

"But…I thought that we were going to wait for your-" Kagome was interrupted.

"He's got a nose, he'll damn use it. Now come on." He used his other arm to pick her up by the waist, ensuring that the other two humans would follow.

"But Lord Inuyasha, Sesshomaru-sama-"

"Hush kid. He'll follow, ok?" Inuyasha looked down at Rin. She nodded, looking past him to Kagome.

"Let's go home then."

---

They found Kaede in her hut, leaving AhUn grazing in the pasture that surrounded the old well. Entering the village Inuyasha ducked into the old miko's hut after his wife, feeling how the pup gripped him more tightly with all the scents of humans about.

Kagome and the others sat down, leaving Kaede free to look him over.

"I am glad that ye are safe and home again Kagome." Kaede said first and foremost, eyes glued to the hanyou who went to sit against the wall with the pup still glued to his neck.

"Might I ask about…" Kaede looked to Kagome.

"It's his half-brother Sesshomaru's baby, Kaede-sama." Kagome said quickly, lest she get some other idea into her head. "We're going to…kind of be watching him part-time."

Kaede seemed confused. "Does ye brother not despise ye, Inuyasha?"

"Kagome wants to help him," Inuyasha tried to shrug, but Yuki's weight threw the elegance of the motion off. "Oi pup, let go already." Inuyasha's clawed hands reached up to pull Yuki's arms from his neck, setting the pup down on his leg. Rubbing his sore skin for a moment he looked back up to the others.

"And this one?" Kaede smiled at Rin, who sat next to Kagome.

"I'm Rin," she said simply.

"Are both whelps stayin' with us Kagome?" Inuyasha let out a small frustrated growl as he had to keep wrestling with Yuki's hands, which seemed determined to get to his ears. The pup was giggling though, and Kagome thought.

They had their own hut outside of the village, but still close enough to be within calling distance. Inuyasha liked the smells of the forest, and the silence, and Kagome relished having their own section of the river close by.

"Do you want to stay here with Kaede-sama, Rin?" The girl's eyes widened and they found Yuki's white hair again.

"But Yuki gets scared without me!" Her big brown eyes pleaded with Kagome, who looked back to Inuyasha again. Their hanyou rolled his eyes, stilling Yuki's hands in one large one.

"Kagome…" he sighed. Under her sad gaze he shook his head, making Yuki giggle as hair went flying. "Fine, ok? But just until the brats feel better about bein' here."

Rin cheered, clapping her hands. Seeing Rin's happiness, and guessing that his new favorite uncle had something to do with it, Yuki let out a yip of happiness and bent down to lick the back of his hand once. Inuyasha grunted, looking up to meet the oh-so-cute looks of the others in the room. "And only if y'all will quit looking at me like that!"

Kagome laughed, turning to wrap an arm around Rin. "Inuyasha's loud, but he's very nice when you get to know him," she whispered to the girl. Rin giggled into her hands.

"Like Master Jaken," Rin giggled harder. Kagome heard a snort from her husband, and her married friends were laughing.

"Keh. Come on already." Inuyasha's ears were flat against his head when he stood, leaving them to themselves. Kagome rolled her eyes, following after him with Rin in-hand.

"Oh, Inuyasha, wait!" He stopped, pausing long enough for her to catch up with her limited strides.

"I wanna get home already. Is that a problem?" Inuyasha pushed Yuki into her arms, and the pup whined at being separated from him. He stuck his arms back into his sleeves, and she leaned up to kiss him softly.

"No." He seemed surprised by her answer, blushing as he began to walk again.

Their hut came into sight soon, and she could see him relax as they got away from the village again. She would've liked to hold his hand but with Rin claiming one and Yuki weighing down her other arm…

Inuyasha circled around making sure that it was safe before he let her enter, and she released Rin's hand in order to step inside.

There were three separate rooms to their home, and the outside door led to their bedroom. Her husband knew what kind of home she'd come from, and he'd spent a long time working on it before he'd even let her see it. One room belonged to them, and another led down to a cellar underneath the ground that kept most of their supplies fresh.

The other…Inuyasha had built for their "pups", whenever they arrived.

She loved their room. Their bed was made of several layers of the softest fabrics that he could find laid over a futon, and he'd even hunted down geese to make pillows for them. In the corner of the room was "Kagome's window", and it overlooked the water.

He was proud of their home, and he had rights to be. It was a lot nicer than most of the homes' of the villagers, and Rin gasped as soon as she caught a glimpse of the glass window. "Wow Kagome-sama!"

"Just Kagome, ok?" she smiled. Rin nodded, going over to look out of the window.

Inuyasha went over towards their room's firepit to start a small fire, and she went over to sit with him. On her leg Yuki burbled, watching Inuyasha move around with bright eyes.

"Hey, Yuki?" Kagome remembered again. His head swiveled, blinking his gorgeous amber eyes up at her. "Are you hungry yet, or do you want to wait until later?"

He made a sound, claws digging into her shirt. "Better feed the pup now, or he won't sleep tonight," Inuyasha's voice spoke up. Kagome rolled her eyes, setting Yuki down next to Inuyasha's leg.

"I'm gonna go get you some milk, ok?" Bending she ruffled his hair before hurrying outside.

"You have a very pretty home, Lord Inuyasha." Rin sighed, coming to watch what he was doing.

It would be chilly tonight. It'd darkened during the time that it'd taken them to run home, especially with the way Sesshomaru liked to travel through the middle of forests and away from roads. Inuyasha didn't usually worry about Kagome going back and forth from the village until it got darker, but he found himself glancing up, waiting for her return.

"Thanks kid." Rin beamed at him, and she sat down somewhere behind him.

Kagome ducked back into the main room, AhUn's bucket hanging from her hand. Yuki sat up from where he'd toppled backwards next to Inuyasha, nose in the air at the smell of the milk. "That's right Yuki! Dinner's here for you."

Setting it down Yuki crawled over to her, peering down inside the bucket. She had to scoop him up before he toppled it over on himself, laughing. "Hm. Easy pup," Inuyasha grunted.

Kagome sat him in her lap, once again starting her cup routine. Dipping it into the bucket she held the cup to his face so that he could drink and preventing him from drinking too fast or pouring it on himself. Inuyasha sat watching her, while Rin drank on her own, and she couldn't read the look on his face.

"I'll be right back." Her hanyou left the room to go outside and hunt something up for their dinner. She helped the kids finish with the milk, setting the rest aside for her and Inuyasha, before adding another log or two to their fire. She was glad that the window was already shut.

"Back," Inuyasha ducked in with a skinned animal, and Rin looked up.

"You mean Lord Inuyasha's going to be hunting for us?" She looked unbelievingly between the two, and Inuyasha snorted.

"Well duh kid. What'd you expect?"

She just shook her head, twiddling her kimono in her fingers. Meanwhile Inuyasha stuck their dinner on skewers, drinking a mouthful himself out of the bucket. Soon the smell of roasting meat filled the room and Yuki yawned.

"Where're the kids sleeping?" Inuyasha's arm came around her waist.

"I thought they could use the…the spare room." Inuyasha leaned in to kiss her cheek, hearing Rin giggle. "Yuki'll feels comfortable sleeping with her," she shrugged.

Yuki was already going belly up in her lap, so she laid him out on the floor while the three of them ate their meal. Rin was visibly exhausted, and she herself would be glad to get a real night's sleep.

So while Inuyasha dealt with the remains of their dinner she went to get the rest of their blankets, carrying them into the other bedroom. She spread the blanket out on the ground, setting another on top of them to make a type of cocoon for the two youngsters. Returning to her room she bent down to scoop Yuki up, nudging Rin's shoulder.

"Come on Rin. Time for bed." The girl silently followed her back into the other room, lying down obediently to where she was tucking Yuki in. She curled into him naturally and he cuddled into her arms. Rolling her eyes she re-tucked the blanket around both of them, patting Rin's hair gently.

Inuyasha was waiting for her when she could finally relax, and she appreciated his shirtless form as he got into their bed. Following suit she changed out of her miko robes and into the plain white yukata that she wore to bed, throwing her arm over his stomach and lying her head down on his shoulder. Strong hanyou arms wrapped around her, and he let his nose come to rest down on her hair again. "Kagome…" he breathed.

She could tell by the way his hands were moving what he wanted. "I missed you," he sighed into her ear. He shifted around under her, one arm coming down under her head and his mouth coming down on her ear.

She loved him. And Inuyasha was the single sexiest individual that she'd ever known, but two days worth of worry and stress and exhaustion had taken it out of her. Her arms ached from carrying Yuki and she didn't quite feel…

"Inuyasha?" He seemed quite occupied with her neck now, and she was sorry that she had to push him away. "I can't do it tonight, ok? I'm so tired." Even her throat still hurt, and she stifled a yawn. "I'm sorry."

"S'ok," Inuyasha kissed her lips gently, urging her to lie back down with him.

---

She could feel a weight on her backside, and in her mid-sleep state she nearly sighed. "Can't, Inu."

Tucking her head deeper into her pillow she could feel her hanyou's warmth at her back and calmed down again. She turned around to face him.

A mess of white hair was what she saw. Blinking she could see Inuyasha had turned on his back during the night and the white hair was in fact not his. Yuki had crawled in between them sometime during the night and had curled up against Inuyasha's side. The little snores she could hear were the baby's, and leaning up on her arm she could see his little hand fisted on her husband's chest.

Covering her mouth to keep any noise at how utterly cute they looked from escaping, she sat up. Yuki was tucked in underneath Inuyasha's arm, who had his other arm behind his head. Almost giddy, she bent in. "Inuyasha?" she asked quietly. She didn't want to disturb the pair, but he had to see this.

"Wh 'ome?" he muttered out, yawning, He raised the arm around Yuki to cover his yawn, opening an eye on her.

"Look who decided to join us." Kagome whispered. Raising his head a bit he noticed the kid, and he made a sound in his throat.

"When the kid crawl in here?" His voice was still husky with sleep, and one of his legs bent up under the blankets.

"I don't know, but it's adorable." She let out a small giggle, reaching down to tuck the pup's hair behind the ear she could reach. She planted a kiss on the side of his cheek close to his hair, and Inuyasha stretched. Amazingly that didn't wake the little one up, who just cuddled closer.

"Keh." Inuyasha pushed his own hair back off his face with his hands, shifting his head on the pillow. "He ain't movin', woman."

"Who could disturb that beautiful little boy?" she cooed. She couldn't resist bending down to kiss him a few more times though, and even that didn't bother him.

"My back's tellin' me I gotta get up Kagome." Inuyasha said softly. He eased out from under the pup, though she was glad to see that he did turn back and tuck the blanket in around him again. Smiling she went to reach for their bucket to slip out and gather their water for breakfast.

Inuyasha had his shirt on when she got back, and she stretched her back out in her yukata. She was glad to see that Rin was still asleep in the other room, apparently Yuki's nighttime moving hadn't disturbed her too much.

She brewed up some tea for them, enjoying the quiet of their morning before the children woke up. She leaned into Inuyasha's side, letting his giant sleeve cover the other side of her arm, and drank her tea in complete bliss.

She felt Inuyasha stiffen before he said anything, but he let out a breath. "You might want to get dressed now. The bastard's here." Raising an eyebrow she saw him raise up off his feet, glancing down at her.

"Oh, ok." She got dressed in a hurry. If he said it, then he probably meant it.

She followed him outside in a moment, eyeing the pup still buried deeply within her bed. A bit nervous she slipped outside, anxious to try to act as a buffer between those two brothers.

Sesshomaru stood outside with his arms inside his sleeves eyeing the pair as they came outside. Jaken stood nervously behind him with his staff in hand, peering out from behind him. "Miko."

Miko? So he was only going to address her? She could almost feel Inuyasha's temper rise, but she squeezed his hand within his sleeve. "Good morning Sesshomaru."

"Rin and the pup are inside." Was that a question?

"They're sleeping right now. Do you want me to go wake them up?" Sesshomaru did not answer, eyes falling to the hanyou next to her.

"Where'd you go anyway while we've been takin' care of the squirts?" Inuyasha snorted. She elbowed him in the side, although she was glad to see that Sesshomaru didn't react.

"Bring the pup miko." Sesshomaru said smoothly. Nodding she elbowed Inuyasha again for good measure, ducking back inside.

"Yuki, Yuki." Kagome nudged the boy awake, receiving a glimpse of white fangs as he yawned. "Your daddy's here Yuki. Wake up for me, ok?"

His eyes opened, and he smiled when he saw her. "Your father is here, come on."

"Nasa taw?" he said cheerfully.

"Yeah, sure. Come on now sweetheart."

She picked him up, feeling his bottom. "Oh. I guess you might want to be changed first." It was so odd that he never cried. Setting him on her hip she got up again, rushing over to the cubbyhole Inuyasha had built for them to keep stuff in, and she reached in to grab the diapers Jaken had given her. Quickly she changed him, kissing his cheeks when he cooed happily. "There we go. One clean baby again." Reaching up she adjusted his grip on her neck, hurrying out of her door.

"See honey?" Kagome went past Inuyasha, and Yuki's head turned. Seeing Sesshomaru there she watched his little face light up again as he squirmed against her.

"Father!" Yuki cheered out, fisting his hands against her collarbone. Sesshomaru's face did not change, but Kagome did see his eyes soften. Or she thought she did. Something.

"Are you going to take him for a little while or…"

"Bring the pup to me miko." She edged closer, uncomfortable with how close it put her to him. It wasn't hard to untangle Yuki's arm from her because he so was utterly focused on reaching Sesshomaru. She held him out to the taiyoukai and he reached out an arm.

Sesshomaru took the pup, scooping the kid in one of his arms. Yuki didn't mind being held that way in order to avoid the spikes on his armor, giggling madly at being so close to his father. "Sesshomaru, I…"

"I will return." Turning Sesshomaru did not look back, and Kagome blinked. Before she could ask any more questions she felt Inuyasha's hand on her arm, urging her back towards the house.

"He'll be back later. You know he will Kagome." Blinking she looked down at Jaken who was shifting on his feet and looking up at her with a bemused expression on his face.

"Sesshomaru-sama ordered me to stay here." Jaken cleared his throat, looking away.

"We have tea up at the house if you'd like some," Kagome offered. Jaken seemed to feel as awkward as she did.

"It'll go cold if we just keep standing here. Come on." Rolling his eyes her husband pulled her by the hand back towards the house, and she heard Jaken's hesitant walk behind them.

Rin was ecstatic to see Jaken there when she woke up. Kagome got them both some breakfast before Inuyasha suggested going down to see Sango and Miroku. He knew her better than anyone else, and he knew that a visit might be the best thing to distract her from the missing pup.

---

"Would you relax already?" Inuyasha growled lightly. Kagome was leaning on the window as she waited for Sesshomaru to bring the baby "home".

"It's getting late. What if…"

Inuyasha swept Kagome off her feet, surprising her into squeaking and disrupting the rest of her sentence. "You know what? Kaede's watching the toad and Rin, and we've got our bed to ourselves, woman." A small smirk played across his lips, and she felt the places where she was touching him start to burn.

"Inuyasha, I am way too distracted to…" Inuyasha's mouth was on hers, and she found her arms wrapping around his neck of their own accord. Her back met the soft fabric of their bed and his mouth dropped to her neck. His light growls were rumbling through her skin, his claws were shoving away any thing that was obscuring her body from him, which included her clothes, and in her haze she woke up enough to tug at his shoulder. Shrugging out of his own clothes it wasn't soon before he'd completely overwhelmed her senses.

Trying to catch her breath she rolled over to lie on his chest, her arm coming around his waist. "Thank you," she managed to say. His hands were lazily going through her hair, straightening out the knots he had made during their embrace; it eased a content sigh out of her.

"You worry too much Kagome." Inuyasha stretched an arm out over his head.

"Yeah, I know." Closing her eyes she focused on the heartbeat pounding against her ear, the heartbeat of the man she loved, his fingers combing through her hair, and the utter silence of the moment.

"Ugh," Inuyasha sat up, gently easing out from under her.

"What? Where are you…"

"They're back." Without waiting for her Inuyasha pulled on his hakama pants and his shirt quickly, ducking out of the door without another word.

There was the slow murmur of voices outside as she tried to hurry and get dressed, but there was no need. Her husband came back inside with the baby in his arms, who was yawning. "Yuki baby, did you have a nice day?"

He squeaked when Inuyasha put him in her arms, the pup already finding her neck. "He's hungry again."

---

It was several weeks later when Kagome heard the rain falling. Sesshomaru usually took Yuki somewhere during most days, but she worried for the baby out there in the rain. Did he realize that kids could get sick in the cold? Thank goodness there was no thunder, at least for now, but she felt at odds with Yuki out in this weather.

The wind was blowing hard enough for Inuyasha to want her inside, so how could she not be concerned that Sesshomaru was out there with that pup?

"Idiot," Inuyasha blew his bangs out of his face. She didn't want to ask him to go look, but she was growing closer.

"Yuki's terrified of storms Inuyasha."

"He always brings the kid back when he thinks the kid needs you, so what's your problem?" Inuyasha rolled his eyes. She was playing cards with him, and he was winning for once, so she knew that he didn't want to go out into the middle of the storm. She only sighed, exchanging two cards in her hand for two from the deck. Crap. She could see Inuyasha smirk at the cards in his own hand; he could never keep a straight face. But she couldn't fold or he'd be disappointed, and she hated that even more than losing.

Kagome heard Jaken's voice outside, and sure enough in a few minutes the old imp came inside with a certain pup around his back, yipping when he saw Kagome and Inuyasha looking at him.

"Jaken?" Where the F was Sesshomaru?

"Sesshomaru-sama left him with me." Jaken sighed, setting the pup down on the ground.

"He was just here?" Kagome moved towards the drenched pup, who was fidgeting with the bangs that were hanging down into his eyes, tsking at the sorry state of the little one. His clothes were soaked through; he was probably in need of changing…

"Poor baby," she got a sheet to wrap around him when she started helping him out of his clothes before he caught a chill, if he didn't already have one. Toweling him off Yuki whined at the feeling, and she lifted him into her lap.

"Kagome, he's fine." She could see him roll his eyes, and Jaken shook himself off by the fire. She wrung his hair out over the sheet, shaking her head.

"At least you're clean," she giggled lightly. Yuki gave her a look that told her exactly how he felt about being drenched and naked. Hurriedly she wrapped a dry sheet around him, placing his wet things into a basket by the fire. She went to re-close the door that Jaken hadn't closed all the way and froze.

Sesshomaru was sitting out there on the boulder under the tree a little ways from the river, and he looked as drenched as Yuki from this distance. His eyes were closed, not giving any sign of discomfort away as usual, and a little gasp escaped her. He'd sit out there in the rain by himself, but he wouldn't come in? "Jaken, why is he sitting out there like that?"

"Who?" Jaken's brow wrinkled even more, watching the pup that had crawled closer to his legs.

Why was he so stubborn? Yuki would love to sit inside with him, especially if this storm got worse, and the chill from the wind blew in and made the boy shiver. "I'll be right back Inuyasha, ok?" Before her hanyou could protest she ducked outside with the only umbrella she had from her era, placing the reeds back into place over the door.

"Sesshomaru-sama!" Kagome tried to cover her head from the rain pelting her, but it wasn't working. He didn't move, and she was eternally grateful for the futuristic device keeping her from complete drenching. "Sesshomaru-sama, I think it would be better if you came inside!" The level of the rain was forcing her to raise her voice a little.

"Leave miko." Sesshomaru said quietly, not even opening his eyes from his position. He had his arms inside his sleeves again, apparently uncaring about how heavy the rain was making his whole ensemble, head level with the ground.

"Sesshomaru, please come inside! You can even stay in the other room with Jaken if you want." Kagome's feet were getting drenched in mud, even with her shifting from foot to foot.

"Spare me your supposed altruism."

"This is just plain stupid! There's no reason for you to stay out here like this!"

"Mind your business girl."

"Please? I'm sure that…"

She watched the lightning strike across the sky, and winced as the sound of thunder rumbled towards them loudly. It was certainly close. "Sesshomaru, I really think…"

The sound of Yuki's yowl reached them from the house, and Sesshomaru's eyes opened. The cringy-worthy little howl made her wince, and she looked back to the nearly-stoic taiyoukai. "You hear that?"

"Hn." Standing she could hear the water slosh around him, though he made no mention of it. Striding past her he was making a beeline for the reed-door, and Kagome rolled her eyes to herself before jogging after him.

Inside, Yuki was almost buried within Inuyasha's haori, whining pitfully against his shirt. "Oi pup, it's just a storm," Inuyasha sighed as he attempted to keep the pup wrapped in his sheet. The hanyou saw the door shift aside, but instead of Kagome's petite form the mass of white that was his brother emerged inside.

"Where's Kagome?" Worry came over him quickly, but that ended as soon as Kagome squeezed her way in behind Sesshomaru, skirting around him. "Why are you soaked, bastard?"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome scolded, coming closer. She was trying to pry Yuki's hands off from the inuhanyou, until Inuyasha assisted her and he finally whined at being separated.

"Look Yuki!" His eyes followed her finger, widening when he saw the soaked youkai standing there, gazing down at him.

Yuki yipped. His watched his father as he went to sit against the far wall under Inuyasha's wary eye, "Kagome?"

Yuki was scrambling on the wood floor away from the couple, barreling into Sesshomaru's lap. Looking down they could see the water dripping down the armor. "Jaken," Sesshomaru said quietly.

"Yes…milord?" his retainer asked nervously.

"You will wipe down my armor." Without another word he began to undo the straps that kept the metal in place, setting it aside for Jaken to attend to, which Jaken began immediately.

Yuki didn't care about him being cold, burying himself against his chest. Sesshomaru laid him arm against the boy's back, resting the other one on his knee.

The boy whined when there was another loud crack of thunder, but at least it wasn't a yowl. Kagome was relieved to see that the scary taiyoukai was completely ignoring them in favor for his son, although Inuyasha didn't seem thrilled. Her husband shot her a look, but she only reached over to take his hand in hers.

It was a start.