25-Expectant

Hello again, long time no see. I hope everyone is staying healthy and safe as you read this. Thanks everyone for sticking with this story. Let´s get right on with it.

25-Expectant

The black hair spilled on his bed looked like black flames licking at his pillows. Inuyasha had lifted his head to contemplate the sleeping beauty by his side.

"Kagome" He whispered her name softly, not wanting to startle her.

She sighed contently and snuggled against his side, still refusing to open her eyes.

The hanyo´s eyes roamed her relaxed features, sooty lashes fanning over pale skin, dark circles under her eyes, pink, swollen lips slightly parted. All telltale signs of their nocturnal activities. Inuyasha´s index traced the oval frame of Kagome´s face tempted to kiss her again.

"I shouldn´t." He told himself. "If we want to get some breakfast, I should wake her up."

"Kagome, koi*, we need to get up."

He could feel his body´s reacting to hers even after sharing such a passionate night. He smiled again, his mind´s eye still replaying their lovemaking on a loop.

He was used to spending his human night awake but never had he enjoyed it as much as last night. Kagome had shown him how much she loved every side of him, keeping him awake well after the sun was up and he had turned hanyo again. Her ardor never wavering. The result was an exhausted, unable to wake up, gorgeous woman.

"C´mon koi." He nuzzled her neck as he spoke, feeling goosebumps erupting over her skin. "I know you´re awake.

"Mmmm... I don´t want to. "

"Do you want to show up to work wearing the same outfit you did yesterday?" He tried to poke at her sense of properness, smirking smugly when she almost jumped out of bed.

"I hadn´t thought about that." She grumbled on her way to the bathroom.

"You should think about leaving some clothes here, that way we wouldn´t have to run to your place every time you spend the night."

The sound of the shower almost drowned her answer.

"That´s a good idea." She mumbled over the sound of the water. Her heart skipping a beat at the implications.

It was becoming increasingly difficult to refrain from telling him how she felt about him. Kagome felt her heart bursting with love for this man, but she still wanted to set her affairs in order before she could do it. And that meant dealing with Kouga´s threat.

Another matter kept creeping back into her mind, Inuyasha´s refusal to have children. She had never really contemplated the idea of having a family of her own, it was something she would consider once her life was in the right lane again. She was not sure she could live a happy life without motherhood hinted in the future though.

"We are almost done with Onigumo´s project," Inuyasha said as she towel-dried her hair back in the bedroom. "I´m going to miss having you in my office every morning."

"You can start practicing tomorrow, I will be donating blood with Sango, remember I told you?"

"Almost forgot about it."

"I finally got her involved in Dr. Ikeda hospital´s blood drive."

She sounded confident in the future, Kagome thought to herself. Despite all the doubts and problems they could be facing she still hoped there would be a future for them. And a happy one too, she added.

"You look gorgeous," Inuyasha uttered as Kagome sat back on the passenger seat after driving her to her apartment. He admired her natural elegance, she didn´t need to spend hours in her hair and makeup, she just needed the right outfit to frame her to look amazing, which he happened to believe she could do even with a potato sack. Few other women could accomplish that.

"Sessh called me while you were in your apartment, he said Onigumo is dropping by this afternoon and my brother is coming with him. They want to check how everything is going before we call a shareholders meeting."

"Oh." That was all she could say.

"Don´t worry, you are doing great. I´m sure you will get the votes needed for approval. You have talked to every member of the board and explained every detail of the project."

"I know. I just wasn´t expecting to meet with your brother so soon."

The meeting was upon them before she had time to even think about it. Dr. Ikeda acted as kind as always, but Kagome could feel Sesshomaru´s cold stare on the back of her head the whole time.

Once their presentation was over and Dr. Ikeda was left with the ookami lawyers, Inuyasha and Miroku to review the legal and technical aspects, the elder Takahashi brother asked her to join him in his office on the last floor of the building.

"I´ve been wanting to talk to you alone Miss Higurashi. I want to know what your plans for the future are, now that you are almost done with this enterprise."

"I... actually, I am planning on going back to my sales position part-time. I have also taken a side venture in my field of expertise. It´s a request from Master Totosai to paint a portrait. After that, I think I can dedicate more time to perfect my skills..."

"I have no interest in your little art project Higurashi-san. I was merely inquiring what you are planning with regards to your relationship with my brother. What do you expect to get from him in the future?"

Sesshomaru did not like biting around the bush, Kagome thought. She had not expected that question to be fired at her, even when Inuyasha had told her what his big brother thought of their relationship since the first day.

"I´m sorry Takahashi-san, but I believe that my plans with Inuyasha have nothing to do with you. And if you are implying that I am with your brother looking for financial compensation, you have nothing to fear. I am not after your brother´s fortune."

She tried to keep her voice calm despite the fury she felt raging inside.

"Those may be your true intentions now that you fell you have secured him. However, that could change in the event of your relationship deteriorating. My duty is to protect my father´s legacy. Have you two discussed the possibility of marriage?"

The assault on her privacy was becoming almost unbearable. Kagome took deep breaths to avoid yelling at the daiyokai, all the time being aware he could very easily smell her emotions. She needed to remain calm.

" I can´t say we have."

"Very well. Just bear in mind if you ever plan on marrying Inuyasha, there will be a prenup that you will be required to sign. I won´t allow the wedding to take place otherwise."

"You don´t have to worry about that. If your brother ever wants me to be his wife, I will be the happiest woman alive. Inuyasha is everything a woman could wish for; anyone would be lucky to get a man like him to call her husband. However, there are no documents that can state the true value of your brother."

She could not stay in that office a minute longer. Kagome had already left her seat as she spoke and was on her way to the door as soon as she had uttered those words.

OoOoOoOoO

Hardly had she walked into the elevator when her phone went off.

"What do you want Kouga?"

"I need an answer Kagome, I´m running out of time."

"I couldn´t do it. I need more time Kouga, please!"

"Come on Kags, it´s not so hard. Just bat your lashes at him, he will surrender anything you ask for."

"Just give me one more day. Tomorrow, I´ll meet you tomorrow."

"All right. You have one day. I´ll let you know what time tomorrow night. If you don´t bring it, your picture will be made public."

"I know Kouga, one more day. That´s all I needed."

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Looking out of the window with a furrowed brow, Sesshomaru waited patiently.

"She has a backbone, I´ll give her that," the demon lord thought. "This Sesshomaru still needs to know her true intentions."

His inner musings had to be put aside as Jaken came rushing through the door.

"Sesshomaru -sama! Bankotsu just called."

"Jaken! What did I tell you about mentioning certain names?"

"My mistake my lord, " the little imp bowed as low as his short legs allowed him. "Number 7 just called. He said the meeting was arranged for tomorrow night."

There was no answer coming from the larger demon, just the hint of a smile on his perpetually somber facade.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

"I´m sorry Kags, I didn´t know you can´t donate blood if you´ve had hepatitis. I was only 8 when I got it, I can hardly remember what it was like."

Kagome nodded her head in the affirmative, even if Sango couldn´t see her through the phone. She was already in bed and almost sleeping when the phone rang.

"Argh, too bad. I really wanted you to come with me. I promised Dr. Ikeda I would get someone extra for the blood drive. You know how important it is and there´s never enough donors."

"Can´t you ask Souta to go?"

"He´s too far away and there´s almost no time."

"Yeah, that would apply to Kohaku too. And Miroku isn´t eligible due to the surgery on his hand."

"I know who might be able to do it. I´ll let you know later if they agree to come. Good night Sango, talk to you tomorrow."

She was already disconnecting the call as Sango was saying good night. She looked in her contacts and tapped on the telephone icon. A few seconds later she was greeted by a cheerful voice.

"Kagome-chan, I was just thinking about the last conversation we had. Are you a mind reader?"

"Rin-chan, I´m sorry I was calling you about something else."

It didn´t take much convincing, Rin´s sweet-natured heart agreed to donate blood with Kagome. It was for a good cause and she was old enough to make the decision, she had stated.

The next morning, they were sitting together in the waiting room after their samples had been taken, expecting to give their blood.

"Takahashi Rin" a nurse called her name and they both stood and walked up to her.

"I´m sorry miss Higurashi, this time you cannot give blood."

"Why? It´s not the first time I do it, I know I have no diseases that can prevent me from donating."

"You´d better go see nurse Jakotsu, we have referred your file to Dr. Kimura, he´s probably waiting for you."

"Don´t worry Kagome-chan. I´ll keep my word. Meet me at the cafeteria after you finish with your doctor."

"Ok," she answered in a little voice. She was starting to get worried about the news. What was going on?

Waiting for clearance in Dr. Kimura´s schedule didn´t help it. She had been going through symptoms of numerous diseases on her phone. Was she actually sick and hadn´t got a clue about it?

"Higurashi-san" Nurse Jakotsu finally called her name in his usual cheery voice. "You can go in now."

She didn´t even acknowledge him, getting into the office and closing the door behind her.

"Ok Doctor. Whatever it is, tell me straight away. I have a right to know what´s going on and the sooner I..."

"Congratulations my dear," the weird smile on Dr. Kimura´s face didn´t seem to reach his eyes. "you are pregnant."

"I´m what?" Kagome suddenly felt the floor moving beneath her feet. "No way, that can´t be possible, there has to be a mistake."

"The lab doesn´t usually make mistakes, we have a good record of accuracy."

"But I´m on the pill remember? I have been for the last 4 months. And I haven´t had any symptoms. Are you sure the results belong to me?"

"First of all, no contraceptive method is a 100% efficient, there´s is always a small possibility, less than 0.01%. Second, we are going to run some more tests, these are just the regular screening we make for every female blood donor."

The rest was just an echo in the emptiness of her mind. She couldn´t process what was going on around her. Kagome was barely aware of Jakotsu leading her to another room where they took another blood sample and then performed an ultrasound.

She was still in a stupor when she was back in Dr. Kimura´s office.

"So, now that we have the results back, we can make sure you take proper care of yourself and the baby. According to the ultrasound, you are around the first month of the pregnancy. I´ll refer you to my brother, Dr. Mukotsu Kimura, he´s an ob-gyn so he´ll have a better understanding of the situation. I´m also prescribing you some vitamins to get your body ready for the hard work in the next few months. Any questions?"

She still couldn´t utter a word so she shook her head in the negative.

She was still standing in the middle of the waiting when Rin found her.

"Kagome-chan, are you ok? Kagome-chan?"

Kagome blinked at the younger woman a few times before coming back to her senses.

"Rin-chan, I´m so sorry. I didn´t tell you I was coming this way. You didn´t have to wait for me."

"I was a little worried when the nurse said you couldn´t donate blood. Is everything alright?"

"Yes, yes. Of course. Did you eat something? It´s already noon."

"I couldn´t go and leave you like that. Let´s go together now. You look a little pale, you´re sure you are fine?"

"Yes, I´m feeling a little dizzy, let´s go grab something."

Kagome sat at the table while the younger woman carried a tray with a couple of dishes on it. The smell of the food made her stomach growl, she hadn´t noticed how hungry she was. There was white rice, miso soup, a side dish of vegetables, eggrolls, and two bottles of water. Kagome helped Rin set the food on the table when she felt her stomach flip, her left hand moving towards it before she could stop herself.

"Is your stomach bothering you?" Rin sounded a little concerned.

"It´s probably because it´s been empty for a while. I never have issues with my stomach. I should start eating, I think that´s what I need."

No need to brood over the news right now, Kagome thought. She could do that when she was alone.

She ate eagerly, trying to find some flavor in the hospital´s cafeteria food. It wasn´t that bad, was it? She still couldn´t tell. She was done with the rice and soup when she felt her stomach churning again, there was no doubt this time, nausea hit her out of nowhere making it impossible to keep her food down.

Kagome stood up and urgently ran off, her right hand covering her mouth. She needed to get to a toilet asap.

After she had ungracefully emptied her stomach in the first vacant spot she found and the retching had already receded, Kagome finally noticed Rin was standing next to her. The young girl was already trying to help her get up.

"Kagome-chan, is it fatal?" The worrisome look on her face made Kagome smile. She washed her paling, perspiring face and washed her mouth before returning the smile.

"Don´t worry Rin-chan, I´m not ill."

At that moment Kagome regretted uttering those words, the very same moment Rin´s face illuminated with a knowing smile.

"You are pregnant!"

She had figured it out.

And she seemed to be ecstatic.

"Rin-chan, please..." Kagome couldn´t get a word though, the girl was already hopping and clapping her hands "... I... Inuyasha..."

"I´m going to be an auntie! Yash will be so happy, I can´t wait to see his face..."

"No, Rin-chan, please. Inuyasha can´t... I still haven´t told him..."

"Oh, I see. I can´t spoil the surprise." Her smile fainted for a moment before resurfacing even bigger this time. "I bet we have to organize your wedding soon. Kagome-chan, let me be your bridesmaid, please. I mean, if you have an American-style wedding, or you prefer to have a traditional Shinto ceremony?"

Her hands were rubbing at her temples before Kagome could stop them. It was too much, she hasn´t got that far ahead of herself yet.

"What is it? Are you still feeling sick?"

"I´m sorry Rin-chan, I´d like to go home."

"Ok, don´t worry. Jaken-sama is waiting for me. Let us take you home." They were already out of the cafeteria when Rin spoke again. "I won´t mention it to Yash, Kagome-chan, I understand. But after you tell him, I want to be the first one to congratulate him. I´m so happy for you too."

"I know Rin-chan," Kagome took the girl´s hand in both of hers and smiled tenderly before speaking. "You are a very kind person. Thank you."

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Inuyasha-sama," Shiori´s soft voice brought him back from his concentration. "Mr. Takahashi wants to see you in his office."

"Now? I´m almost finished with this coding."

"Mr. Jaken said ASAP."

"Fine."

Closing the lid of his laptop, Inuyasha got up from his desk and made it to the elevators. When the elevator bell pinged and the door opened, he almost tripped into Kagome who was coming out of it.

"Woo, hey there," he whispered in her ear as his arms held her in front of him. "What is it? Are you feeling alright?"

Kagome finally looked up at him, her eyes looking larger in her unusually pale face.

"You are looking too pale, did you come here directly after donating blood?"

She had enough presence of mind to nod her head in affirmation.

" I just need to send some emails and I can go home after I´m done," she told him.

"Fine. I´ve got to go see my brother now, wait for me to take you home."

And he boarded the elevator holding the door that wanted to get closed.

"Can I use your laptop? Mine has a bunch of updating to do so it will take a while..."

"Sure, the code is the same I use for my apartment door."

The door was at last allowed to get closed as Kagome smiled at him.

Sesshomaru was looking at his own laptop when Inuyasha entered his office.

"Take a sit little brother." Inuyasha sat, already getting pissed. What was it about his brother that made him want to punch his face just from hearing his voice?

"I heard the woman just made it into your office." He spoke without lifting his eyes from the screen. "I have something to show you."

Sesshomaru deigned to make eye contact with him as he turned the laptop his way. It was showing a CCTV video of a parking lot. There was Kagome´s back (he would recognize her wild hair anywhere), standing facing a man who was half obscured by darkness. He could only see his arms and part of his feet. He had obviously chosen the place to avoid the camera.

"What is this?" He growled to his brother.

"Did she tell you about her meeting with this man?"

"Nothing is going on in this video, why should I care?" He had sat back and relaxed his posture, trying hard to remain calm.

"She is colluding with this man brother, I tell you. They are planning something against us."

"You are just being paranoid."

"Am I? Has she not asked anything from you?" He just watched as Inuyasha smiled confidently denying it with his head. " Did she not ask you access to your information, classified information that is."

Inuyasha still denied with his head when he remembered:

"Can I use your laptop?"

Surely Kagome was doing what she had just said, there was no way she had access to his coding files, which he had just left open a few minutes ago.

"I can tell there´s something there" his brother´s voice took him back to the moment. "It doesn´t matter. If you don´t want to tell me, just keep it to yourself. You just need to know they are planning to meet again tonight. In the same place. We can clear all our doubts then."

"No, Inuyasha spat. " I don´t want you getting involved. I´ll deal with it."

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

"I´m sorry Sango, I can´t talk now."

Kagome had had enough time to recover during the afternoon. Inuyasha had taken her home, as he promised. He had been too quiet on the way there, or she was too worried about what was going to happen with Kouga and was imagining things?

Sango had just called her as Kagome was arriving at the parking lot. She must have suspected Kagome was having a bad day. They usually talked around this time and Sango was missing their girl talk.

"I have to finish this business with Kouga. I´ll talk to you once this is over, I promise."

She couldn´t be worrying about Sango now, she just hoped her friend would understand. She was sure Sango would be supportive once she knew everything that has happened since they last talked.

She heard her friend begrudgingly say good night back to her before hanging up. She had arrived just in time. Kouga was getting out of the car in the same dark place he had chosen before.

"Well Kagome, did you bring that?"

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

The Prius moved silently in the parking lot. Inuyasha couldn´t be happier to drive such a stealthy car at the moment. He followed Kagome since she entered the parking lot, lights turned off to blend in better with the night. Then he parked a few cars away from her. There were still enough vehicles to make his presence unknown.

Sesshomaru was positive the man Kagome was seeing was a youkai, he had argued. Inuyasha couldn´t care less. demon or human, he was sure there was something perfectly innocent between this mysterious man and Kagome. He got out of the car and walked through the shadows, getting closer to Kagome until he found the perfect spot. He stood behind a column some 20 yards away from her. His sensitive ears could pick up her speaking on the phone to Sango and putting the phone away. He could not scent her though, the smell of the car´s exhaust and gas masking everything else.

"Well Kagome, did you bring that?"

He didn´t need his nose to tell him who Kagome was meeting, the ookami´s voice was ingrained in his memory. Inuyasha had to remind himself to remain calm, claws digging into his palms in repressed fury.

"What the hell is going on between them?" He kept wondering as he reminded his body to stay in place.

"Kouga-kun..." Kagome´s voice sounded hesitant, Inuyasha thought, he wished he could see her face but from the place where he was hiding, he could barely see the back of her head if he risked being seen by the ookami. "I couldn´t do it. I just couldn´t."

"You know what will happen, are you not afraid of the consequences?" The wolf sounded angrier by the minute.

"I am, very much so. I just don´t care anymore. You can do whatever you like, I´ll tell Inuyasha everything." And just like that, it was like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Inuyasha could hear her voice sounding calmer as the wolf´s got more and more upset.

"You don´t understand Kags, this people are not playing around…"

Kagome took a few steps back as the ookami continued to get closer until he finally grabbed her shoulders and started shaking her.

"You're hurting me, let me go!"

Inuyasha had already abandoned his spot when Kagome started whimpering. Snarling and grunting, he leapt over cars until he finally got to knock the wolf down exactly at the same moment his whole world tur red and he could see nothing more.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

koi* You guys probably know the meaning by now. "Koi" is a love for the opposite sex or a feeling of longing for a specific person. It can be described as "romantic love" or "passionate love." And I´m also aware it´s not usually a pet name for couples. I have seen it around in many fanfictions and just like the sound of it and there aren´t many Japanese options so I decided to go with it.

A/N: I had to stop there; it was already taking too long to update. Did you guys thought the Prius was just to show that Inuyasha is woke? There was a purpose behind him driving that car.

As usual, thank you so much for your patience, saty healthy and I hope to read your thoughts on this chapter.

Love,

ALP