8 - A Wanderer
5 Months to go…
Leaning into the wall, trying to be as flat as he could, Inuyasha sniffed the air around him. He sighed and slowly stepped from behind the hut and did a quick scan around the area.
A group of women passed him, giving him strange looks and whispered among them about the strange behavior of the hanyou.
Inuyasha ignored them and sneakily, with quick movements, ran from hut to hut, hiding.
His back was turned as he sneaked into a hut. He slowly edged into the hut. The aroma of food wavered around his nose. Inuyasha's stomach growled and he swallowed hard.
He stood in the front entrance of the hut, his back against the wall. His head was turned away from the entrance and was scanning out for two certain people. Before he knew it, a hand grabbed him from inside.
Inuyasha shouted in surprise and was dragged into the hut. Enzeru was laughing as he pulled Inuyasha down next to him.
Miroku was smirking as he chewed on a chicken leg. "Sneaking away?"
Inuyasha lifted a fist in the air as if to hit Enzeru, but slowly brought it down as he glared at the two men.
"Shut up! You two don't have to worry every second about losing your food…"
He looked down at the chicken and rice in front of him. He licked his lips and swallowed down hard. In quick reflexes of a starved man, Inuyasha quickly began to stuff himself. He chewed and swallowed, snatching chicken pieces here and there and even took the leg from Miroku's hand.
Enzeru was on his back now, laughing. Tears were rolled down his eyes. "Ahh, man, this is priceless!"
Miroku was laughing now too as he watched Inuyasha kneeling on the ground and chewing down on the food as if there was no tomorrow.
Inuyasha ignored the laughter and quickly ate. For the past month, Kagome and Rin had aimlessly eaten all of his food and were always asking for more, driving him crazy and starving him. Inuyasha shuddered and began to choke on the chicken he was swallowing.
Miroku leaned over and thumped his back. Enzeru was no longer laughing. Miroku looked over at Enzeru and in a few seconds, they burst into laughter again, falling and rolling on the floor.
Inuyasha set down the bowl and glared over at the two men on the floor. He sat down and crossed his legs, stuffing his hands into his sleeves.
"Will you two shut up already?"
"Ahh, Inuyasha. I'm sorry man, but," Enzeru slowly sat up and wiped the tears from his eyes. "Man, does it suck to be you. Are Rin and Kagome not feeding you enough?" He burst back into laughter.
Miroku coughed and sat up, trying to stop his laughing. "Truly, we are sorry for you Inuyasha, but…" Miroku and Enzeru's eyes met and suddenly more laughter burst out from them.
Inuyasha glowered, his eyes and ear twitching in anger as he tried not to reach for Tessaiga. "You two wouldn't be laughing if it were you who was stuck with two always freaking hungry women."
Inuyasha threw his hands up in defeat and walked out on Miroku and Enzeru who were still laughing as Inuyasha walked away.
4 More months….
"Sit, boy!"
Inuyasha landed with a big thump to the ground, face first.
When he stood up again, he was furious. "What the hell Kagome!"
"I said I wanted fries! Not fried fish," she yelled at him as she threw items at him.
Inuyasha dodged them as he tried to walk over to her. "What the fuck are fries!" He ducked as Kagome threw a stool at him.
"Go get me some McDonalds!"
Inuyasha ducked another stool, to only be hit by a pot. "I don't know what the hell McDogal is! Kagome!" He rubbed his head and tried to reach Kagome to calm her down, but instead she began to hit him with the broom.
"How do you not know what fries are," she yelled between hits.
Inuyasha was desperate now and he quickly grabbed the broom and threw it aside and caught Kagome's flying hands and pushed her down onto the mattress.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Inuyasha yelled at her and he trapped Kagome's legs between his to keep her from kicking him. "I have no idea, what the hell fries or this McDald is!"
Kagome suddenly stopped struggling.
"Ahh, guys?" Inuyasha quickly straightened up and faced the door to find Rin watching them with an amused smile on her face. "Sango was wondering why she could hear you guys from way over there…"
She coughed and hid her laugh behind her hand as she looked around the room, littered with almost everything.
Inuyasha sighed. "Rin, do you have any idea, what the hell fries are?"
Rin's face turned confused. "Do you mean fried? As in fried fish?"
Kagome sat up. "Not fried fish! Fries as in potato fries? You know! Long, golden and crunchy when it's fresh hot?" When they just gave her a blank look, Kagome groaned. "If only I had known I'd be craving modern food!"
Inuyasha snorted. "I sure as hell wished I did." He growled and rubbed his ear in irritation, something that he has been doing a lot since Kagome's and Rin's pregnancy. "This is the sixth time you've asked for something that we've never heard of. I mean, who the hell eats anything called hambaorger! What the hell is it anyways and don't even get me started on shook milk!"
"It's hamburger and milkshake! Where does your thick head even get shook milk from?"
"Shook is from Shake! Why would you shake milk?"
"You don't shake it! You blend it!"
"What the hell is blend? I am not cooking you blend!"
It went on onto something with milked cows to goats milk is different from cow's milk and how 'blend' isn't a food. It ended with Kagome yelling, "SIT BOY!"
Rin leaned on the door as she watched them argue. Her hand rested on top of her huge belly as she laughed; her eyes unreadable as she watched Kagome and Inuyasha together.
3 more months…..
"Inuyasha! I need Sango!"
*Hear a "Yeah, yeah!" from Inuyasha as he hurries over to Sango's*
…..
"Inuyasha, my feet hurt!"
*Inuyasha sighs and walks over to Kagome.*
…..
"Inuyasha!"
*Inuyasha jumps up and fetches Kagome some water.*
…
"Um, Inuyasha… I think Rokuro's eating Tessaiga," Rin said as she watched the baby drool all over the ancient sword.
*An annoyed and tired Inuyasha snatches the sword away from the baby. The baby's lips trembled as Inuyasha looked down at him.
The hanyou panicked.
"Shhh! No, don't cry!" Inuyasha bent down to comfort the baby… But...
As Inuyasha bent down, Rokuro began to cry and the cry was followed by a loud smack. Rin glares at Inuyasha, trying not to grin as Miroku picked up his son; Inuyasha is rubbing the large lump forming on his head as he cursed under his breath about a perverted monk.*
2 Months….
"I need to lie down… I'm feeling a bit light-headed Inuyasha..."
...
"Inuyasha! I need you!"
...
"Inuyasha! Where are you?"
...
"Inuyasha! Damn you! Because of you, I'm so fat!"
...
"Inuyasha, go take a damn bathe! And I thought you were the one with the nose!"
...
"Inuyasha! Kagome's looking for you!"
...
"Inuyasha!?"
...
"Inuyasha, pay attention to what you're putting in there!"
...
"Inuyasha!"
"Inuyasha!"- "Inuyasha!"
"INUYASHA!"
…
"AHH!"
Inuyasha slumped down on the wall as he sat with his hands covering his face. Rin sat on the edge of the cot, laughing silently.
"I hope Kagome's not wearing you down," she said as she watched Inuyasha rub his ear.
"Why are you so calm?!" He groaned and looked up at her with weary eyes. He had stopped being so annoyed and just finally looked worn out. "Hell, you're the one who's having the baby in two months! You haven't complained at all about anything!"
Rin smiled and looked away, her hand resting on her belly. Inuyasha stared at her stomach, still surprise at how…huge it was.
"Keh! I wish this would be over now!"
Rin laughed and turned back to her. "Inuyasha, if you think this is bad, I can't wait to see how you'll react when she is in actual labor."
"What!?" Inuyasha sat up quickly. "No way am I going to be there when she is in labor! You know how lucky I am to still even be alive?" He paused and touched the onyx beads around his neck. "Kagome has only sat me like three times."
Rin laughed, but quickly stopped and began to rub her forehead, a pained expression on her face.
Inuyasha sat up and scouted over to her. "Rin?"
Rin waved him away with her other hand as she breathed slowly, in and out. "I'm fine Inuyasha." She smiled at him.
Inuyasha cast a worried glance at her and looked away.
Rin doesn't ever complain about her pregnancy like Kagome does, but he noticed whenever she rubs her swollen feet or her aching back or whenever she sits down, breathing hard.
It wasn't until now that when Inuyasha looked at her, that he finally felt it…Rin's loneliness.
His eyes soften and his next words were gentle.
"You know," he cleared his throat. "It's okay to complain once and a while Rin…"
Rin turned to him. "Hmm… Sessho-" she stopped when the first part of his name came from her lips. She looked down at her stomach. "Complaining is a sign of weakness."
Inuyasha snorted. "Keh! That bastard is a stingy asshole. Don't listen to him Rin. You spent too much time with him." He looked over at her. "You know, it's okay to just say something about it. I mean…you're not alone."
Rin was silent for a moment, so silent that Inuyasha was about to say something else when suddenly she turned to him, smiling and said, "Rin is fine, Inuyasha." Then after a moment. "Kagome is calling you."
He didn't believe her and was about to argue with her, but he then could hear Kagome calling for him. He shot her a confused look.
How did she hear Kagome before me, he asked himself.
He stood up and turned to Rin, but she had turned her back to him and was looking down into her hands.
Inuyasha was not good at times like these so he stood there a little longer before nodding and walked out.
Damn you Sesshomaru. With that last thought Inuyasha walked slowly out of the hut, leaving the young woman alone.
Again.
Rin sat by herself for a while after Inuyasha had left, hugging her stomach.
The young woman felt alone and out of place. She couldn't understand what to think of Sesshomaru anymore.
"Your father… Why does he have to be so complicated," she whispered as she felt the baby kick her, as if agreeing.
The baby had actually begun kicking a month back. She had only told Kagome and Sango, both had shared her happiness with her.
Sango and Kagome had still not figured out who the father was, and Rin refused to tell them, saying that if they want to know, they'll have to find out themselves. She was surprised Inuyasha had not told Kagome yet.
She rubbed her belly and smiled fondly. Then, her smile staggered. She wished Sesshomaru was here with her.
"But would he really care," her words were sad as she whispered them down to her stomach. She felt the unusual sensation of the baby kicking again, as if telling her that he/she could hear her.
She laughed softly to herself and hugged her stomach closer, but gently so that she doesn't hurt the baby.
"Just a couple more months, then we'll finally meet." A feeling of happiness spread through her.
She refused to think of Sesshomaru at that moment.
It has been funny for the past months, watching Inuyasha and Kagome. She smiled sadly. Rin had tried to not be such a big problem to Inuyasha. Kagome was enough for him.
But…it had been hard. Every night she would still look up at the stars, hoping that Sesshomaru was looking at them too.
She closed her eyes and shook her head. I better go and make sure Kagome isn't being too harsh on Inuyasha, Rin said to herself.
The couple has always been like that, but Inuyasha's been worried about the pup and all. Not forgetting all the random demon attacks for the last couple of weeks. Already two huts are still being rebuilt when a kappa had attacked the village.
Miroku and Inuyasha had been busy with all the demons attacks and protecting the village. Enzeru has been helping them in the replacement of Shippo, who has yet been back from the search of Kohaku.
Rin was worried, but she forced them all away. Having this baby is enough to think about.
She sighed and slowly got up, lifting her body with her left arm as her right hand rested on her belly.
She looked down at her stomach, which was huge now and she could no longer contain the secret of her pregnancy from the village. Of course, she never could, but then the rumors had been mixed with her getting fat, but now it's obvious which rumor was true.
She wrinkled her nose. She was annoyed with the rumor that the baby was Enzeru's though; a rumor she had been trying to clear for some time now.
Enzeru.
The name sounded distant as she walked down the trail. She thought about the mysterious man. He had come into their lives out of nowhere and has become a close friend in less than a few months.
For the past months, his wound has been almost fully healed and his humorous self has not changed at all. He had crafted stools, tables and fixed tools for farming and etc for the villagers. He had also carved toys for Rokuro and other children of the village.
He had even built a cradle for Kagome and was almost done with Rin's.
Kagome's cradle was something Rin or the others had never seen before, except Kagome it looks like a younger version of the old cradles that she had back in the modern era.
Enzeru said that it was a new invention from the northern lands. It was built so that it could be moved, rocked is the word he had used, from side to side. It was a circular shape, and the structure of it was something that Rin knew was definitely new technology. He had built the bedding with soft silk.
On the sides of the cradle, circling around the cradle; Enzeru had carved out a story line that he thought was good for Inuyasha and Kagome.
The story was of a hanyou born from a peasant and a great taro demon. It showed of the small hanyou growing up with his mother only, while his youkai father grew up with his mate somewhere else.
This part had touched Inuyasha, but the stubborn and arrogant hanyou had only snorted and said it interesting enough.
The story was not done there. It went on how the youkai father had taken away the little hanyou away from his ningen mother when it was discovered that the hanyou had great youkai abilities. The hanyou then had been taken away from his mother and never to see her again. He later befriends a youkai, whose father was a famous dai youkai of the land. The youkai one day turned his back on the hanyou because of the fact that he is a half-breed and later on, that youkai's father killed the hanyou's father.
Then on, the hanyou grew up and one day fell in love with a woman with the hands that created miracles with wood. The wood she carved looked so realistic, that they almost came to life. They were happy together for five years. She had died by the hands of a kappa. The hanyou had killed the kappa with anger, but was too late to save her. Enzeru had ended the story there.
The drawing of it was beautifully crafted and carved; almost realistic. Rin and everyone else had praised the carving. She had been particularly interested in the drawing of the hanyou's friend for some reason. It was a striking resemblance of someone, but she couldn't figure out whom.
Taka, Tamae and Minoru always traced the carving whenever they were over to bother Inuyasha (Which was ALWAYS).
Kagome had asked Enzeru where he had heard the story from and the man had just laughed and said he hears it from here to there which just confused them all.
Miroku had asked Enzeru where he was from and the man had shrugged.
"I'm a wanderer. I go here and there, always looking."
"Looking for what?"
Enzeru had just smiled and looked away from them, with a look they had never seen before on the optimistic man's face. "That is a story for another day."
With those words he had left them and went off to sleep underneath a shade by the rice fields.
Rin stopped and looked over to the hut where Enzeru was living in with the blacksmith of the village.
Enzeru couldn't stay with Sango and Miroku because all the children, and Inuyasha and Kagome didn't really even have any more room left for him.
Inuyasha had just asked a group of men from the village to help expand their small hut since he was busy with Kagome AND helping Miroku save the village. The men had gladly agreed to it, wanting to help the hanyou who was always protecting them, but it wasn't going to be done till next month.
Everyone had agreed that staying with Rin, even with her big hut that can't possibly even be call a hut, was not a good idea, especially with all the rumors that would have flown around and when Rin pregnancy was found it, an even worse idea. So it ended up with Enzeru staying with the blacksmith as long as he helped around the hearth and etc, but when the art of his craftsman of wood work was heard of, he began to use the blacksmith's home as a place to carve his work for the villagers and had even rebuild all of the blacksmith's wooden handles for his tools.
Rin still couldn't understand the man.
It was then that Enzeru waved at her and she waved back, smiling.
"Hmm…Enzeru seems harmless enough," she whispered as she laid a hand over her belly.
She smiled and turned away from Enzeru and opened the flap of Inuyasha and Kagome's door. The scene that was before her broke her heart, but at the same time, she smiled.
Inuyasha and Kagome had their backs to her, but Rin could see Inuyasha's head on Kagome's round stomach.
She stood frozen on spot as she watched the special moment between the couple.
"See?" Kagome's voice was soft. Her hand was running though Inuyasha's hair now as he rested his ear on her belly, closely listening even though with his senses, he didn't need to do that. She was smiling contently as she watched Inuyasha's awed face
"I felt the kick just now," she said as she laid a hand over the spot that the baby had begun to kick again. "Sango said it should be about now that I'll be able to feel him kicking."
"Him…?" Inuyasha finally asked as he slowly placed his hands over Kagome's own over her stomach. He sat crossed legs in front of her as he looked down at their hands. The look of awe had not left his face.
Rin had never seen Inuyasha look like that before and she felt an odd feeling of sadness wash over her as she watched Inuyasha once again laid his ear to her stomach and began to speak softly to the baby.
Rin swallowed down a lump and slowly closed the flap; she felt like an intruder now upon the special moment. As she turned around, she bumped into someone.
She looked up into Enzeru's eyes and quickly looked away.
Rin couldn't look at him as she turned away and slowly walked towards the trail leading to her small isolated hut.
Enzeru looked after Rin's retreating figure, his hands clenched as he watched her.
"Rin…" he whispered after her.
DISCLAIMER: I'm really tired of saying this and probaly won't say it anymore. INUYASHA IS NOT MINE!
