Getting sick had began to be an everyday thing for her.
As soon as she woke up, it was the worst, and it progressed throughout the day.
Sometimes, she wondered if she was dying and that if she returned Inuyasha's calls and came over to let him know she was dying, she wondered if he'd care.
It wasn't like her at all to ignore his calls, and it wasn't like him at all to text her, but he did anyway. Most of the time, he'd call and ask her, no, not ask her, but demand her to come over, and she'd hang up and be there in exactly five and a half minutes.
She hadn't answered him back for a week.
But deciding that she felt well enough today, she took to taking a shower, cautious of not moving too fast because if she did, she might just get sick again.
Sango, her best friend of thirteen years, asked if she was okay.
She nodded. "I'm going to see what Inuyasha wants."
Sango always gave her a look of disapproval, muscles moving in her mouth to make a frown and she'd get that sad look in her eyes. But Sango understood, and it wasn't as if she didn't care, but she just knew better than to try to stop Kagome Higurashi from seeing Inuyasha Takahashi. Because Sango knew well that nothing could stop love, not judgment, distance, or deceit.
But Sango thought of much better things Kagome should be doing, like pursuing her one of her longtime secret admirers, Hojo or Kouga, someone who was worthy of all the affection she knew Kagome was capable of giving.
So she crossed her arms and stood in the doorway. Kagome looked sick. There were bags under her eyes and her face was more pudgy and everything she ate, she threw up. She'd known for a while now, but Kagome was someone who stuck to denial.
So Sango smiled instead and offered her a hand. "Hey, how about we go get something to eat instead? And then we can go shopping and pick up some groceries. We need some more for the house anyway, right?"
XXXXX
Sango never knew with Kagome. Maybe she was in denial or maybe she already knew, but that wasn't the case.
All she'd ate was a salad with no dressing, just a bunch of greens, and walking down the baby aisle, she seen a sort of forlorn look in Kagome's eyes. A miserable and anxious look, mostly.
Kagome had been living with Sango for over a year now, so Sango knew her best friend's habits.
"You know…you don't look so well." Sango said, throwing a couple of much needed items in the buggy before looking over some more groceries.
"I don't need a doctor, Sango." Kagome had said quietly, a sort of snap in her voice.
"I don't think you need Inuyasha, either—" she'd started, only to be cut off.
"Why are you giving me a lecture now of all times?"
"He has a girlfriend—"
"Right. Kikyo. The famous model. And what am I supposed to do about it?" Kagome had asked almost dangerously, slight weary in her voice. She sounded so tired…so tired, and she knew she was.
Without thinking, she grabbed three pregnancy tests and shot Kagome a look, daring her to say anything.
And she didn't utter a single word the whole way home.
XXXXX
Never once in her life had she used one of these damn things, and she never imagined she'd be using it at the age of twenty-three, either.
She couldn't understand who would even want to.
Her bottom lip was swollen from her tooth's constant nagging on the piece of flesh. She paced back and fourth, feet bare and cold against the bathroom floor as her eyes quickly skimmed over the directions.
-Step 1 – Taking the test
Place the absorbent tip pointing downward in your urine stream—
And what the fuck? Who even writes out directions like these…
...for 5 seconds only…
'Five seconds?'
…;or you can collect a sample of your urine in a clean, dry container then place the absorbent tip—
Who the fuck says absorbent tip, anyway?
Sango knocked on the bathroom door.
"What is it?" She hadn't meant to snap, but she did anyway.
"I was just checking up on you, you're taking an awfully long time for someone who's so sure they won't be popping out a baby in nine months—"
"Fuck off, Sango…" she muttered.
...then place the absorbent tip pointing downward in your urine for 20 seconds only. You may wish to replace the cap and lay the test stick flat…
Who fucking called it a test stick, either?
She took a deep breath and followed the first option, thinking that this had to be the stupidest thing in the world, thinking that this had to be the most vulnerable she'd ever feel in her life…
-Step 2 – Wait for the result.
She tapped her foot once, twice, three times against the linoleum, cold floors.
The Smart Countdown will now be shown on the display so you know the test is working. Each segment will appear (flashing) in sequence to show the test is progressing.
Her heart was suddenly as heavy as her head, and she forced herself to take her eyes off of the test, to focus on something else. She looked down to her other hand that was on her knee, only to see that it was shaking violently.
'I don't really even know what the fuck these words mean…and there's always two more tests to take. One might not be a hundred percent accurate. There's…there's always a better possibility.'
She snatched the box up again with an angry look in her eyes, almost dropping it in the process.
-Step Three – Read your result
Your result will appear within 3 minutes—
But three minutes was an eternity too long, and…
…and some results may be shown in as little as 1 minute—the Smart Countdown will progress more quickly in this case.
A 'Pregnant' result will remain on the display for up to 6 months.
A 'Not Pregnant' result will remain on the display for approximately 24 hours.
Her mouth dropped open and her vision turned blurry and the only thing she could do was let the damn stick fall on the floor, right next to her feet. It made a sound as it hit the cold floor.
Before she knew it, she was calling for Sango to bring her the other two tests in immediately.
XXXXX
Things were quiet the rest of the evening.
A baby…she was going to have a baby.
A beautiful baby that might take after it's mother, or worse, it's father.
…and she didn't want to have it, but then again, she did.
"Are you sure you're okay, Kagome?" Sango asked her, knocking on her bedroom door.
She stepped in without a word, suddenly surprised to see a girl who wasn't in tears, just deep though. She walked all the way in, no longer cautious, and took a seat next to her best friend, gripping her hand tight in hers.
"Look…we'll work something out, okay? I know you said you weren't going to get an abortion…but you could always consider adoption. Miroku," Sango's longtime boyfriend and high school sweetheart, "…Miroku told me that he wanted me to come and stay. I wanted to tell you earlier…but I knew something was going on. Don't be mad…but I told him you were going through a hard time and you needed me to stay with you for a while longer than I expected. But I've been thinking…if you decided to keep it, once you and the baby were settled in good enough, you could just stay here, you know, and I go move in with Miroku. But I'll always be just two miles away. And I'll always be here if you need me."
Kagome nodded her head, staring at the ceiling.
"You're not going to keep it?" Sango asked, almost as if she was expecting her not to.
Kagome gave her a look. "I'm not just going to drop it off on someone's door step after these nine months are over."
Sango nodded. "You need to tell your mom. You need to tell Inuyasha. After all, he has been trying to contact you, and I hope it's not for what got you like this in the first place…"
She felt sick again suddenly and she almost clenched her fists in rage because it was just her and all this shit inside of her head and a miniature Kagome or Inuyasha growing inside of her and goddamn, she was so angry!
"I used protection," her voice was calm. "I was on birth control, and then I remembered I skipped a few days, you know, and I thought I'd be okay. I can't be a father and a mother at the same time, Sango."
Sango smiled. "Well, you've always got me."
A/N: It gets better...review.
