Obligatory Disclaimer: The "Inu Yasha" series and its characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi, Sunrise, Shounen Sunday, Viz, and other corporate types. I am none of those entities. I'm just a silly fan writing silly stories because it's fun. Suing me would only be a waste of time and funds, so please don't. Any original characters that show up belong to themselves. Just ask them.

Author's Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions expressed in this work of fiction do not necessarily reflect those of the author.

Overall Rating: M

I CHOOSE NOT TO WARN!

This story contains material that may be disturbing or outright triggering to some. Reader discretion advised.

Author's Note: inufan625 and Youkai55, I couldn't have done this without you!

Two Plus Two
By Misarae

Chapter Two
Shattered Dreams

Inu Yasha had hoped that the run to and from Naoki and Sachiko's school would help take the edge off his urge to beat something, or someone, to a pulp. However, arriving on the school grounds and seeing Naoki pinned underneath a bigger, stronger full youkai had brought all his adrenaline rushing back, pumping through his system at twice the speed.

By the time they arrived back at the Shrine, even though he had carried both pups the entire way, he needed an outlet before he did something he might regret.

Apparently Kagome had noticed his increased agitation, because she had the back door open by the time he reached the main house. Naoki and Sachiko protested his manhandling, but he wasn't in any mood to try and explain himself. He literally dumped them at their mother's feet and went bounding off into the woods surrounding the shrine to hopefully find something useful for rending into tiny shreds.

Sachiko and Naoki stared after him, stunned. Naoki was the first to turn away, his eyes wide. "Mom?"

Kagome sighed, kneeling down to take both her children in her arms. Sensing her Mom's distress and the tension in her arms as she hugged them both tightly, Sachiko burst into tears.

"Mom, what is it?" Naoki insisted, nuzzling her chin. He already knew the most likely answer, but he refused to accept it until he heard it straight from one of his parents.

Kagome's throat was dry and her eyes burned, the tears of rage she had shed earlier having drained her ability to cry.

"Our family registers can't be changed, can they?" Sachiko sobbed.

"We are going to the municipal office tomorrow," Kagome said firmly, clinging to one of the positive outcomes of her day. "We just have to make a slight adjustment." She turned her attention to Naoki. "The good news is that, at least in Naoki's case, it's all legal now. They tried to find a forwarding address for your birth mother, but she seems to have just vanished." Kagome hugged her son a little tighter. "You're mine."

Naoki had sworn he wouldn't cry, but he couldn't help the silent tears that slid down his face in utter relief. He wrapped his arms around Kagome as far as he could, burying his nose against the skin at the base of her neck to allow her scent to soothe him. ::Mom:: he whimpered in Inu, as his vocal chords refused to form human speech.

"That means it's.. me?" Sachiko asked brokenly, her words falling from her lips to shatter on the ground.

"Shhh.. it'll be all right, Sa-chan," Kagome said, holding Sachiko even tighter and using her babyhood nickname, even though she was now eight years old. "Your Papa and I are going to fight this, no matter what."

Naoki pulled back from Kagome's arms, and she let him go, keeping an eye on him as he dashed the remaining salt water from his eyes with a vicious rub of his sleeve. "Then how can we change the registers?"

"Your grandma is still down at the municipal office taking care of something that will at least give your Dad some legal standing as far as Sachiko is concerned. We were going to do it anyway, but in light of what's happened today, it's even more important. Even though things aren't turning out exactly the way we hoped," Kagome turned her attention back to Sachiko, "your Papa is still going to fight so he can adopt you. We all want that, more than anything else in the world." Kagome couldn't help the blush that washed over her cheeks at referring to Inu Yasha as "Papa", even though it had become easier for her to do so as the months went by.

"I don't care what the law says," Sachiko sniffled. "Father doesn't want me. Papa does! Why is my biological father doing this?"

"I wish I knew," Kagome said. The emotional, irrational part of her wanted to insult Hojo-kun for the pain he was inflicting on their daughter, but it wouldn't be right. "The objection to the adoption came from his lawyers, not from the man, himself."

"I hate lawyers," Sachiko said.

"So do I, Sa-chan. So do I."

Inu Yasha stared down at his hands in detached horror, balancing himself on his haunches as he reflected on the past several minutes. It had been a very, very long time since he had been so furious. First he'd tried his usual method of reducing a large rock to rubble. He'd scored a few lines in the surface, but it was too hard. Next he'd made his way to a copse of old, dead trees that he'd stumbled on during one of his runs around the grounds. The wood was much more yielding, crumbling far too easily beneath his savage claws.

Then he'd happened upon the hapless rabbit that now lay in tatters at his feet.

The actual death had been quick and clean. He'd caught it and slit its throat in less than a second, allowing the blood to drain with terrible satisfaction. He was very glad in that moment he had no idea where Hojo Yoshiaki was hiding, or he would have run that vermin down just as handily. It had felt so good cutting into that yielding flesh, then continuing on, reducing the meat to bits only good enough for stew, and reveling in drawing out the entrails, feeling the slickness of them in his hands, still warm with the final gasps of life.

Now that the bloodlust had been sated, practicality kicked in. He carefully drew a plastic bag out of the pocket of his jeans, gathering up what meat he could salvage. Then he set the bag aside to carefully separate the rabbit's pelt from what remained of its body. Inu Yasha winced. He'd have to hide the pelt until after Sachiko went to bed. She'd be upset enough at the fact he'd killed a helpless bunny. Hopefully Naoki would be able to help explain to her that hunting was a part of youkai life.

And it kept him from going to jail for manslaughter.

He knew his thoughts were unreasonable, and he even understood why. His paternal instincts were in overdrive thanks to having another pup on the way, and he knew how much Sachiko would be hurt by her biological father's actions. Since he couldn't bury his claws in the flesh of the man who was wounding his pup so deeply, the rabbit had been the next best thing.

That also helped his rage ebb, knowing she would need him once Kagome had broken the news.

Inu Yasha buried the rabbit's entrails, and carried the meat with him as he sped back toward the main house. He stopped by the storage shed that he knew held the shrine's supply of yukata and hakama, knowing that seeing the blood on his clothing would only make things worse. He also took the opportunity to stretch out the pelt on a high, unused shelf, hoping that he could tell Mama Higurashi it was there before it gave her a shock. He was able to wipe off the worst of the blood caked on his hands with his ruined t-shirt. He took one last detour to quickly sluice his hands under the outside faucet connected to the main house. He knew Naoki would still smell it and question him, but at least Sachiko and Kagome wouldn't be immediately alarmed.

Or so he thought, until he came in the back door and saw Kagome's nostrils flare.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Inu Yasha looked around the kitchen. "Where are the pups?"

"Up in Sachiko's room. I think Naoki's trying to distract her with one of their summer assignments. It's probably not working, though. Now, is that blood I smell?"

Inu Yasha's ears lowered as he belatedly remembered Kagome's heightened sense of smell that had developed back when she was still in the first trimester, and apparently lingered on. "It's rabbit, not Hojo," he said, before muttering, "Not that I would mind if it were that rat bastard's." Then he remembered the baggie, and tossed the remains of his kill next to the sink. "Thought we might try rabbit stew or something."

Warmth flooded him as Inu Yasha felt Kagome's hands close around one of his.

"I almost wish it were his, too," Kagome admitted. "Just when I thought he couldn't hurt her anymore."

Inu Yasha sighed, drawing his wife-to-be into his arms and holding her tightly. "We'll take care of this, even if I have to call on my asshole half-brother's resources. Sachiko is our pup. Just as much as Naoki, or this little guy." Inu Yasha slipped a hand around to caress Kagome's slightly rounded abdomen.

"Yeah, he hasn't liked that I've been upset all day."

Inu Yasha dropped to his knees, letting his ear press against Kagome's abdomen. "Hey, pup, it'll be okay, so give your Mom a break, all right? Oh, and hurry up and get bigger so I can feel you, too."

"It's only fair, since you've been able to hear him since I was only about two months along," Kagome teased. She would have said more, but she could feel the tension draining out of Inu Yasha's frame as he simply listened to the rapid flutter of their unborn pup's heart. She stroked Inu Yasha's hair, letting the sensation calm herself down as well.

She was only five months along, but Inu Yasha had told her that Naoki had been born full term at eight months, rather than nine. She could feel the fluttering movements of the life inside her, but nobody else could, yet. Everything she'd read said that could happen any day now.

She'd also found out that the element of surprise about a baby's gender was taken away by superior inu youkai noses. Inu Yasha had just blurted out that they were having a son one morning during his now daily "sniff check" to make sure she and the pup were still strong and healthy.

There was so much she still had to learn.

Inu Yasha pushed up the hem of her shirt and the elastic waistband of her pants down just enough to place a kiss on her belly, before putting her clothing to rights, rising, and kissing her lips, too.

"Kasumi-san isn't back yet?" Inu Yasha said, reluctantly drawing back.

"Hopefully she's just stuck filling out a mountain of paperwork." Kagome gave him one more quick peck before releasing him. "I'll let you know the moment she's here. Now, go comfort your daughter."

Inu Yasha nodded, taking her hand and placing a kiss in the center of her palm before heading up the stairs.

They would see things through, no matter what.

Author's Note: I had absolutely NO idea this fic would be as long as it is. I was originally thinking it might be a little longer than "One Plus One". 100K words, tops. Bzzt. Try four times that. I really should stop trying to guesstimate how long something I write is going to be. So this is going to be a very long story. For those who aren't scared off, thanks for coming along on this ride with me. I'll be aiming for twice a week updates.