October 29
Things have been getting worse around here with people going missing. It doesn't seem to be an isolated incident anymore.
A few days ago while Inuyasha was out with Miroku today getting rid of demons at another village, I spent some time hanging out with Kaede. She checked up with me on my pregnancy and said that things seem to be going smoothly for me and then we talked about some general miko things. And as usual, we diverged into talking about other random topics while we had tea together.
"Quite a few women have gone missing lately," she said.
"How many more?" I asked.
"From what I last heard, there have been at least 10 of them."
"This is insane. What do you think is going on?"
"Could be the work of a demon, or some sinister humans. It is very disturbing."
"I just hope it ends soon. It's frustrating to have to be looking over my shoulder so much every time I leave the house."
"I agree. But I know your husband will be very protective of you."
"You've got that right. Ever since he heard what's going on he's been keeping an eye on me. He almost didn't go out with Miroku today."
Kaede laughed a bit. "Knowing Inuyasha, I'm not surprised, especially with your pregnancy."
As I went home after that I kept looking around to make sure no one was coming to kidnap me. I had brought my bow and arrows with me and I was more than ready to attack if I needed to.
Lucky for me, I got home safely. Inuyasha got home later that evening and he seemed to be beside himself with worry. As soon as he saw me he pulled me into his arms.
"I'm so glad you're home!" he said.
"Did you think I would be gone?"
"Of course I did! I thought for sure you would have been abducted by the time we got back. The whole time we were gone I kept thinking that I shouldn't have left."
I smirked. "Have a little more faith in me than that."
"Keh! You can't blame me. It seems like people are getting taken every day around here."
"Kaede said there have been at least 10 women who disappeared."
I wished I hadn't said anything after that because it seemed to make him worry even more. He put his hands on my shoulders and looked at me seriously. "I need to do more to protect you."
I placed a kiss on his lips to reassure him. "You're already good at protecting me."
"I still need to do more. This is very serious. I'm not letting you out of my sight until all of those women are found and this whole thing is over."
Inuyasha has definitely kept true to his word since then. He's hardly left my side all week. Whenever I go to the shrine, to Kaede's, or to anyone else's house for miko service he escorts me there and stays nearby until I'm done. Even when I'm at home in our yard he's always on guard to make sure whoever this captor is stays away from me.
He may be exaggerating a little bit but I'm grateful for it all the same. I'm very glad that I have him to look out for me. After all, he told me a long time ago that he would protect me with his life and he's never gone back on that. Of course, now wouldn't be any different. If anything, he's more protective now that I'm pregnant.
I'm not the only one that's had a very protective husband this week. Miroku has also been taking his protection over Sango very seriously. In fact, he and Inuyasha have kind of teamed up with this. If one of them ever has something else to do, they task the other with looking after their wife. There have been a few times where I've been sent to our friend's house to be watched over while Inuyasha did something or Inuyasha has taken Sango and me to the cafe or the nail salon when Miroku was busy.
It was a nice day to sit outside and enjoy the weather so we sat in the park while the children played. Midori came over to me and grabbed my hand. "Auntie Kagome, come look at the bunny we found."
"Okay." I got up to follow her but then Inuyasha jumped out of the tree he was sitting in.
"Where are you going?"
"Just over here," I replied.
"Why?"
"Midori wants to show me something."
"Fine, but don't go any farther."
I sighed as I followed her. It was nice that Inuyasha was being protective but he was starting to overdo it.
When I came back he was still standing in that same spot watching me.
To our surprise, Jaken came over to us and he wasn't with Sesshomaru.
I waved at him. "Hi, Jaken…"
Inuyasha held his sword out at him, making Jaken jump back in fear.
"What are you doing with that thing?!" Jaken exclaimed.
"How do we know you're the real Jaken?"
"Of course I'm the real Jaken!"
"Are you sure? You could be coming to abduct Kagome and Sango! Now convince us that you're the real Jaken or I'll cut your head off!"
"What…?"
"Inuyasha, would you stop?!" I exclaimed.
"This is serious, Kagome," Inuyasha protested. "Anyone could be an imposter."
I put my hand on his and lowered his sword. "I know you want to protect me, but this is going too far. Be reasonable, honey."
Inuyasha put away his sword realizing I was right. "Okay, fine."
"What brings you here, Jaken?" Miroku asked.
"And where's Sesshomaru?" Sango said.
"I was sent by Lord Sesshomaru to bring something to Rin but she's gone," Jaken said.
All of us exchanged a concerned look.
"What do you mean she's gone?" I asked.
"I went to old Kaede's house to find her and Kaede said she hasn't seen her all day. She said she might be here with you guys but you all clearly don't know where she is either."
"This isn't good," Miroku said.
"Has something bad happened to Rin?"
"People have been disappearing in this village for the last two weeks," Miroku explained. "It's possible that Rin has been taken."
Jaken started to panic. "Oh no, this is horrible! Lord Sesshomaru is going to completely freak out!"
"We'll find her," Sango said. "She's probably around here somewhere. Let's not worry just yet."
"I'll go try to track her down," Inuyasha said.
"I'll stay here with Sango and Kagome," Miroku told him.
"Good, don't let them out of your sight. I won't be long."
Inuyasha ran off and while he was gone we discussed what could have happened to Rin all the while trying to calm Jaken down. An hour later, Inuyasha returned empty-handed.
"Any luck?" I asked.
"Not at all," he said as he sat down next to me. "I searched the whole village and I asked around but no one has seen her. Kaede said she went out this morning. I tried to follow her scent and it stopped at the river. Whoever took her could have taken her down the river."
"This is horrible! This is absolutely horrible!" Jaken said. "What are we going to do?"
"We're going to keep looking out for her," Miroku said. "That's all we can do right now."
"What about Sesshomaru? He'll be livid when he finds out," Sango pointed out.
"Hopefully we'll be able to find her before Sesshomaru comes around," Inuyasha said.