A/N: Another Friday, another chapter. You might find this one kind of slow after the action of the last two, but don't worry, it won't stay that way for too long. I'm really trying to represent Kagome's mother in a different way than most people do, but I hope I'm not going too far with it. Oh, well. Please enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 10: I Just Wanna Be With You
To get up, or not to get up? That was the question that Kagome had been lying awake debating for the past fifteen minutes. She was trying to decide whether she felt well enough to get up and deal with the aftermath of everything that had happened, and had just decided that she'd rather go back to sleep and put it off for a few more hours when the door cracked open. Her body tensed and she listened hard, wishing that she was facing the entrance as light footsteps approached her bed. Quickly, she pushed the covers down and sat up, finding herself face to face with a boy.
He was young, probably even younger than Souta, with dark hair and eyes that immediately welled up with tears when he saw that she was awake. Almost shyly, he plucked at his damp shirt and came closer to the bed, giving her an imploring look. Kagome frowned, wondering if this was another child of Sesshoumaru, and was about to ask him a question when his scent finally registered. Wood, and damp fur, and... candy? Specifically, strawberry pocky. Her eyes widened.
"S... Shippou-chan?" she breathed.
The boy sniffed and reached for the necklace he wore around his neck. One quick jerk and her adorable kitsune was staring up at her. "Kagome! Mama!" he wailed, flinging himself off of the floor and into her arms. "It's been so long since I saw you an' Papa was tryin' to keep me from seein' you an' I said I couldn't take it anymore an' Seiko-chan said it was okay an'..."
"Shh, Shippou-chan, it's alright," Kagome soothed, unable to keep her own tears from misting over. She cuddled the boy against her body and gently brushed her fingers through his russet hair. "Oh, my baby, I've missed you so much."
Shippou cried into her shirt for a long time, his fists wound into her shirt and hair as he clung to her with all of his strength. Kagome whispered to him and rocked him and lost count of how many times she thanked Kami-sama for the fact that the boy she had come to think of as her own was still alive. And he'd even called her "mama"! She felt tears slipping down her cheeks again and ducked her head, brushing her damp cheek against the top of Shippou's head.
"It's okay. I promise I won't leave you ever again," she said into his hair, knowing that her promise would actually come true now that she was a hanyou.
"You smell like Papa," he mumbled into her shirt.
"You call Inuyasha 'Papa'?" Kagome inquired, a bit bemused. She had always thought that Inuyasha would make a wonderful father, but she'd often wondered if the hanyou would ever be able to act in that way for Shippou, who had taken great pleasure in annoying Inuyasha to no end. The thought that Inuyasha had found it in him to step up was almost enough to make her cry all over again, but she reined it in when Shippou glanced up at her and nodded.
"He took care of me after you... well, left," he said quietly. "I didn't know what would happen to me, but Inuyasha said I was stupid 'cause I'd always have a place with them and that hadn't changed just because you'd left for a little while. When we came to the future, Sesshoumaru made it 'official."
"That sounds like Inuyasha," Kagome remarked, planting a kiss on his forehead. Her heart was singing with a joy that she'd never before experienced. Even though she'd thought of Shippou as her child when she was a human, that feeling seemed to be magnified by a thousand now that she was a hanyou. Love swelled within her heart every time she looked at him, and the desire to keep him healthy, happy and safe was raging through her soul. She closed her eyes briefly, wondering if this was the sort of feeling that Inuyasha had been possessed by whenever a fight was going on... a feeling that, to keep her family safe, there was nothing that she could not do.
"Mama..." Shippou began and then paused, faltering.
"You can call me that, Shippou-chan. I don't mind," Kagome assured him, opening her eyes.
"They're waiting for you," he said, offering her a shy smile. "Downstairs."
"Oh. I guess that means I should get up, hmm?" She scooted to the edge of the bed and stood up, stretching her arms over her head. Shippou hopped onto the bed as she walked across the small room to the adjacent bathroom. Someone – she hoped Seiko – had bathed her and changed her into a pair of pink pyjamas while she was unconscious, so she didn't feel the need to take a shower, but her hair was a mess and her mouth felt like it had been stuffed with cotton. While Shippou waited patiently outside the door, Kagome washed her face and hands, brushed her teeth, and combed her hair, noticing as she did that there was a dark blue sundress hanging on the back of the door and a pair of white sandals sitting on the floor. Unsurprisingly, both fit her perfectly.
"Are you ready?" Shippou called out curiously, tapping on the door with his claws.
She opened the door by way of answer, still smoothing down the front of the dress, and held her hands out to Shippou so that he could climb back onto her shoulder. Then Kagome ventured out into the dark hallway and began following Shippou's directions to turn right and head down the first staircase that she came to. Most of the youkai workers that Kagome passed just ignored her presence, and she was grateful for that. Without her bow and arrows, which she hadn't seen since Naraku had kidnapped them, she felt naked. The memory of her weapon made her realize that her miko power had mostly regenerated during her long sleep.
"Down there, Mama," said a little voice in her ear, interrupting her thoughts, and Kagome glanced up, spotting another staircase at the end of the corridor she had been walking down. Her eyes widened as she reached the end of the hallway and for a moment, she stood still at the top of the stairs, staring in outright amazement.
The staircase led down to a large common area, and everyone she cared the most about was there. Kouga and Ayame were seated on a couch together on the far side of the room. A little girl Kagome didn't recognize was sitting on Kouga's lap, deep in conversation with... was that Souta? Sesshoumaru, Miho, a boy who resembled Miho, and a dark-haired woman were clustered around a desk to the right. Inuyasha and Kimiko were standing side by side a short distance away, although neither one of them were speaking. Kagome's grandfather was talking to a boy who bore a remarkable resemblance to Miroku, and Seiko, who was standing off to the side looking bored. Seiko held Kirara in her arms and absently stroked the cat youkai as she glanced around the room.
Kagome disregarded the others for the moment as she gazed at Seiko and... her memory scrambled to recall the name for Miroku's reincarnation. Matsu, was it? Both of them looked so much like Miroku and Sango that for a split second, it was like the past and present had blended together and all of her deepest wishes had been granted. Her eyes filled with tears. Sango and Miroku had been her close, dear friends in the past, and as a hanyou, she could feel the youkai side of her registering them as "pack". She breathed in slowly as a single tear escaped, and her hanyou side, having been battling with loneliness for several weeks, surged in need for her pack, forcing her to take a step forward.
Matsu glanced up at that moment and caught sight of her. His violet eyes lit up. "Kagome-san!"
That did it. As all conversation in the room stopped, Kagome put her hand on the rail and hurried down the staircase, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Onee-chan, Onii-san!" she cried, flinging herself forward. Both Seiko and Matsu looked shocked as she threw an arm around each of them, but recovered enough to embrace her in return.
"Kagome-chan, thank Kami-sama you're safe," Seiko said in a choked voice.
"We were worried about you," Matsu added. Surprisingly, he didn't even try to grope her, but kept his hands above her waist. Whether that was because Seiko and Inuyasha were watching or from the emotion of the moment, Kagome wasn't sure. She smiled into his shoulder as he said, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm okay," Kagome said softly, pulling back reluctantly when she registered that something hard was pressing into her hip, where Matsu's right hand was. Puzzled, she glanced down, and was horrified to see the familiar beads wrapped around his palm, which was covered by a glove. Instantly, her mind flashed back to Naraku's threat, and a sick feeling engulfed her as she grabbed his hand. The world tilted dangerously as she got a better look at the glove he was wearing. "No..."
"Kagome-san..."
"No." Shocked, Kagome dropped his hand and backed away, bringing her hands up to her mouth. She could barely force the question out of her mouth. "The... Kazaana...?"
Matsu nodded, his right hand clenching into a fist. "It reappeared when I regained all of my memories."
Why hadn't she killed Naraku when she'd had the chance? "O... Onii-san..." she whispered.
"It's alright, Kagome-san," he said, giving her a faint smile. "I'm certain that this time things will be different."
Before Kagome could think of anything else to say anything to him, a hand tugged on her skirt, and she glanced down to see Miho standing beside her as Matsu took the opportunity to slip away into the crowd. The younger girl smiled cheerfully and held up her clenched hands, indicating that she wanted to give something to Kagome. Frowning, Kagome held her hands out and gasped when Miho opened hers, allowing several glittering pink shards to fall into Kagome's cupped hands. Shards of the shikon no tama! She'd nearly forgotten that she had stolen them from Naraku.
"I kept them safe you, Oba-san," said Miho. "Just like you protected me. Thank you."
"You're welcome, Miho-chan," Kagome said dazedly, looking at the shards. If combined into one shard, she could tell that it would have been bigger than the one Naraku had stolen.
"Here, Kagome-chan," Seiko said, holding out a small glass container that was not unlike the one Kagome had once worn at the beginning of their adventure. She helped Kagome to pour the shards inside and then pressed the lid on before handing it to her friend. "Put it around your neck."
"Thank you, Onee... um, Seiko-chan," she mumbled, accepting the necklace. She held it over her head and lowered it, then pulled her hair out from beneath the cord. They would have to talk more about the Kazaana and the fate that Sango and Miroku had met at a later time, because she could tell that it still haunted Seiko, but that wasn't really a topic to be discussed in front of so many people, who were all waiting for the chance to see her. Like her mother, who had been eyeing Kagome since she stepped into the room. Kagome swallowed hard, knowing that a battle awaited her there.
"Nee-chan!" Souta ambushed her first, throwing his arms around her waist. Excitedly, he took her hand and dragged her over to Kouga and Ayame. Kagome followed willingly, happy to put off the confrontation for a few more minutes. "This is Kobayashi Megumi-chan. She's in my class."
"She is?" Kagome looked at Ayame curiously.
"It was the easiest way to keep him under surveillance," the wolf youkai muttered, too low for Souta to hear.
"Hello, Kagome-sama," Megumi said. She was a slender child, a few inches shorter than Souta, with a shock of red hair and Kouga's bright blue eyes. "It's nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too, Megumi-chan," said Kagome. "Kouga-kun."
"Kagome." Kouga smiled at her, looking relieved. "I'm glad to see you looking so cheerful."
"I understand that's because of you," she said, resting her hand on Kouga's arm. "Thank you, Kouga-kun, for figuring out a way to tell me the truth. I was... really suffering."
Kouga nodded. "I know."
"Nee-chan, are you really okay?" Souta asked, looking up at her. "Inuyasha-nii-san said that you were in an accident."
"I'm fine, Souta." Just because he hated it, she messed up his hair, grinning when he protested loudly and swatted her hands away. "You don't have to worry about me."
"Mama was," he said, giving her a meaningful look. Kagome grimaced and nodded in return. "She was really worried. You should go say hello to her, Nee-chan."
"I'll do that." Grateful that he'd given her an opening to slip away without being rude, Kagome patted his head once more, said her good-byes to Kouga, Ayame and Megumi, and walked over to her mother, studying the woman as she approached. Kimiko's face was pale and there were dark circles under her brown eyes, but that did little to dispel the severity of her expression as she turned, stepping away from Inuyasha in order to meet her daughter. Kagome could just imagine how she would have reacted to the news that Inuyasha was alive and Kagome was still getting caught up in his adventures. She took a deep breath and said, "Hello, Mama."
"Kagome," Kimiko said shortly. "I'd like to speak to you alone, if you don't mind."
"There is a little room through that door that you can use," said the woman who was standing beside Sesshoumaru. Kimiko walked through the door immediately, but Kagome paused and frowned, realizing for a second time that something about the woman's face looked familiar. The woman smiled at Kagome and winked. "Kagome-onee-sama, don't you recognize me? It's me, Rin."
"Rin-chan?" Kagome's jaw dropped, and for a moment, she was so surprised she didn't know what to say. She studied the long, dark hair and the sparkling brown eyes, trying to compare it to that little girl who had followed Sesshoumaru around. Her eyes fell onto Miho, and she nearly shook her head at herself. How had she failed to notice that Miho looked exactly like a hanyou version of a young Rin? "Oh my god, Rin-chan. It is you!"
Rin laughed. "We'll talk after you speak to your mother."
"Sure," Kagome said, still shocked. She followed Kimiko into the little room and closed the door, though she doubted that would prevent the hanyou and youkai in the other room from hearing. It was dark in the room, but as she fumbled for the light switch, she thought that she could make out Kimiko standing near the window. "Mama, what's wrong?"
"I want it to stop, Kagome."
"You want what to stop?" she asked, finally locating the switch and flipping the lights on. The severity of her mother's expression stopped her cold.
"Don't you know how worried we were?" Kimiko demanded, eyes blazing. "You walked out of the house without even introducing me to that girl, who you just called 'onee-chan'! And that boy you call 'onii-san', we have no idea who he is, either!" She glared at Kagome, looking deeply upset. "You didn't come home, and I waited up all night worrying about you. I had to hear about the danger you'd put yourself in from some random stranger, who insisted that we had to come along if I wanted the chance to see you! My own daughter! It's outrageous, and I don't want you to do this anymore, Kagome. It's far too dangerous."
"Mama... I'm sorry that you're upset," Kagome said slowly. "Seiko-chan and Matsu-san are the reincarnations of some dear friends of mine. They've always treated me like a little sister, and I can't help seeing them as my brother and sister. That's only become even more true now that I'm a hanyou. I feel it in my heart, and I can't control that. I'd be happy to introduce you to them if that would help. And I'm sorry that you were so upset. That wasn't my intention. I didn't know what was going to happen."
"But the point is, it happened anyway," said her mother wearily. "You could have been killed, and I wouldn't have known. Kagome, I'm worried about you. Can't you understand that?" Kimiko crossed the room and pressed her hand against Kagome's cheek. "I regret the fact that I never pressed you to tell me more about your trips through the well. I never understood just how much danger you willingly put yourself in until you came home looking like this. And the stories that I've been hearing..." She shook her head. "Now that I know, I don't want you to do it anymore. I want you to stay away from these people. It's for your own safety."
Kagome stared at her. "Are you... trying to tell me that you want me to stay away from Inuyasha?"
"Especially Inuyasha," Kimiko answered firmly. "As your mother, I have to think about what's best for you, and if this is the only way to keep you safe, so be it."
"You can't keep me from him," said Kagome. "You can't!"
"I'm your mother, and if I say that you are no longer allowed to see him, then you will follow my orders," Kimiko snapped. "Kagome, don't you understand how much danger you're putting yourself in? I won't have it. You've already become a hanyou, and when I think about what that means for your future... I won't let you hurt yourself anymore!"
"I can't believe I'm hearing this," Kagome whispered, realizing that her hands were shaking.
"I know it will be upsetting at first, but you'll move on. Your friends from school have been very concerned about you, and that nice Hojo-kun was around the shrine asking questions just the other day," her mother said. "It won't be very long before you'll have forgotten all about Inuyasha and those... people."
That did it. Kagome laughed. Or maybe she was crying. It was hard to tell. "You really think I'm going to listen to you, don't you?" she asked once she had caught her breath. "Mama, don't do this. Don't make me choose between you and Inuyasha. You can't win."
"Kagome!" Kimiko began, her eyes flashing. The door opened, cutting off anything else that she might have said, and Kagome turned to see that her grandfather had stepped into the room.
"Kagome, I need to have a word with your mother," he said, his expression unusually serious.
"Okay, Jii-chan," Kagome nodded, trying to keep herself under control. She looked at her mother and made one last attempt to soothe things over. "Mama... Please try to understand. This is my family you're talking about. I have to be with them. I know that you're worried about me, and believe me when I say that I'm sorry that I scared you, but even if I wasn't a hanyou, you couldn't keep me away from them. This is where I belong."
Kimiko looked like she was about to say something else, but Kagome didn't give her the chance. She walked straight past her grandfather and closed the door behind her, even though – as she had predicted – it did nothing to stop the sound of arguing voices from coming straight through. All of her friends were trying to look like they weren't paying attention to her sudden reappearance, except for one. Kagome searched the room and found a set of familiar golden eyes looking at her from across the room. With a forced amount of casualness, she crossed the room to stand in front of him.
"Inuyasha, I..."
"Kagome," he said, cutting her off before she could finish. Inuyasha looked distinctly uncomfortable. "You don't have to... if this will cause problems between you and your mother... I don't want to put you in danger."
Her heart melted. Without a word, Kagome closed her eyes to hold back her tears and reached out, wrapping her arms around his body. Inuyasha stuttered to a stop, shocked by her actions, as she spoke. "You stupid hanyou," she said into his shirt. "All I've ever wanted is to be with you, Inuyasha."
"Kagome... is that why you..." His hands gripped her arms loosely. "Why are you a hanyou?"
Kagome drew back and looked up into his face, feeling a rush of love that left her breathless. "When Naraku poisoned you, Myoga-jiji found us. There was no way he could suck out so much poison, so he told me about this ritual that could save your life," she said finally. "The poison only affected your youkai blood, and he suggested that if you had more human blood in your body, you might survive. I took your poisoned blood and gave you mine." She smiled tiredly. "You survived, and your blood ended up turning me into a hanyou."
Golden eyes grew wide and for a moment, Inuyasha appeared to be too dumbfounded to speak. "Kagome, that could have killed you! Are you crazy? How could you do something so dangerous?"
"You were dying. I would have done anything to save your life," Kagome said honestly, pressing a hand against her chest. "It didn't matter what happened to me as long as you survived. The thought of living in a world where there was no Inuyasha was unbearable. I don't care about being a hanyou, Inuyasha. Actually, when I thought that you were dead, what kept me going was the knowledge that as long as your blood ran through my veins, you were still with me."
Inuyasha just stared at her, looking too stunned to say anything. That was fine with Kagome. She touched the shards of the shikon no tama at her throat and stepped closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. After a moment, she felt his arms wrap around her body, clutching her to his chest so tightly that it hurt. At that instant, she knew for certain: it didn't even matter what happened between her mother and her grandfather. As much as it would hurt to cut herself off from her mother, she would gladly do it if it meant that she could keep Inuyasha and the rest of her pack in her life.
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