*Landlady runs past Sesshy and J0rge yelling incoherently and frantically waving her arms*
Sesshy: Where's B0b? I haven't seen him in a while.
*Landlady runs past in the other direction, still frantic*
J0rge: He umm, went to pick something up.
LL: Ahh! We need another bed.
Sesshy: *grumbling* You're telling me…
*B0b appears with a poof, a huge cage next to him, Miroku is inside, flipping through a pile of papers happy as can be*
B0b: You better watch your ass with this one, literally.
Sesshy: What the hell?
LL: Well you know how I trapped you with a trail of dog treats? I did the same thing with Miroku, only I used nudey pics!
Sesshy and J0rge: *sweatdrop*
LL: *sigh* Isn't he adorable?
Disclaimer: One by one, I'm catching them … but they still don't belong to me.
A/N: Hey peeps! I got so many reviews that it would take me forever to do responses so I'm going to answer a few of your questions here. But first, I'd like to thank everyone for all of your support with my finals, and apologize for taking so long. I was having a really hard time picturing Kagome pregnant. -_-; But here it is, finally! Hope you enjoy!
Sesshy and the baby: It took him a little while to realize that Kagome was pregnant, since I figure that it would take at least a week for the thing to grow enough to be detectable. And no, he's not too happy about it, especially since he was pretty pissed that he lost control with her in the first place.
Kagome's too young to be a mom: She is only seventeen when she gets pregnant, but back then, girls got married around fifteen or sixteen. I wanted to show the realistic side, especially since they didn't exactly have birth control back then … and get in a little angst as well.
Will Kagome/the baby eventually turn out to be demons: That's a hard question, and really, you're just going to have to wait and see. I will say this though … Kagome is not a normal human, not that you didn't know that already.
Chapter 10: Cementing Alliances
Kagome was in shock. Quite honestly, the risk of becoming pregnant hadn't previously occurred to her. It should have, she realized now, but the fact was she'd been too worried about the obvious effects that their actions had had on their relationship to think about any future consequences.
The woman slid down the tree she'd been pinned to and landed with a soft thump. Sesshoumaru had retreated to the other side of their small fire, but she hardly even noticed him. Instead, her attention was fixed of her flat belly. Finally, she looked up with a dazed expression to see that Sesshoumaru was watching her intently and trying to pretend that he wasn't. "You're sure?" she had to ask, even though, deep down, she knew the answer. Her demon companion wasn't one to jump to conclusions.
He growled. "Of course I'm sure! I can smell it, and you are carrying my brat!"
Kagome choked back a sob and doubled over, clenching her fists so tight that her knuckles turned white. Without warning she felt the demon lord's presence beside her. "I'm sorry," she whispered without looking up, "I'm so sorry." She took a ragged breath. "I can – I can get rid of the baby. Back home there's a way … and you won't have to have a hanyou child."
The demon lord growled viciously at her words, making Kagome jump. His clawed hand slid under her chin and forced her face up so that he could look her in the eyes. "You. Are. Not. Killing. My. Child. Do you understand?" Kagome nodded dumbly, unable to stop the tears forming in her eyes. Turning away to hide them, she was further surprised when Sesshoumaru stopped her kissed her tears away. He then wrapped her in his embrace, winding his tail around her and settling her onto his lap to get her as close as possible. And was he purring? I didn't know dogs could purr, came the absurd thought as some of the tightness in her chest eased, at the same time trying to figure out what was going on.
"Don't worry about it, Kagome," Sesshoumaru said after she'd calmed down a bit. "I will take care of you and the brat."
Kagome smiled tiredly despite everything. "Ok," she said, feeling at that moment that her vocabulary was sadly lacking. Nevertheless, she felt the warmth of happiness spread through her. At the same time, her more pessimistic side wondered how long it would last … but it was a very small part of her and Kagome squashed it ruthlessly.
Pushing herself up, Kagome pressed a kiss to the demon's cheek before unwinding herself and standing up. A sudden desire to be alone and sort things out had struck her, and she dug around in her bag for an excuse. Her hand closed around her canteen and she grabbed her glaive with the other. "I'm gonna go get some water, ok?"
"I'll go with you," Sesshoumaru replied immediately. Kagome nearly yelled at him until she saw the partially concealed look on his face. He truly wanted to protect her, and she found that she couldn't yell at him for that.
"I'm pregnant, not helpless," she told him with a reassuring grin. "I'll be fine." Before he could reply, she walked off. And if the demon followed her, then he was really going to get it.
***
Sesshoumaru watched Kagome walk off in the direction of the nearby pond, quashing the urge to trail her every move in case something happened. This is stupid, he thought grumpily, sitting down by the fire to wait. He knew that Kagome was more than capable of taking herself and it wasn't like he needed to be three feet from her to be able to reach her in time if something did happen. Closing his eyes, Sesshoumaru forced himself to meditate and relax.
As soon as her soft scent and quiet footsteps reached him, however, his eyes snapped open and he found himself looking her over to see if there was any visible damage. Kagome must have noticed, for she snorted and said, "If you're going to be like this for the next nine months, I might end up Kagome." The demon frowned. Kagome had a point; he was acting very unusual. But given the scent of her pregnancy and the fact that knowledge that the child was his and he couldn't help himself. Damn instincts.
"Get some sleep," Sesshoumaru ordered, "We're going back to the castle in the morning."
"If you think that you're going to just dump me off and try and gather the rest of the shards by yourself, then you've got another thing coming!" Kagome said angrily.
The demon lord smirked at his fiery companion, "I wouldn't dare. Now sleep."
Grumbling, Kagome obeyed, pulling out her sleeping bag and curling up in it next to Sesshoumaru. When he was sure she was asleep, the demon bent over and pressed a kiss to her lips.
***
They arrived at the castle shortly after noon, and for the first time, Kagome entered through the front gates. When she told Sesshoumaru as much, he made her show him the small servant's entrance that she'd snuck in though last time. The demon lord immediately had it boarded up, telling Kagome, "You won't need to sneak in through here anymore."
Then, they were tackled by Rin.
"Sesshoumaru-sama! Kagome-chan! Rin missed you!" The child launched herself at the demon, attaching herself to his leg. Kagome hid a smile behind her hand as she watched the emotions flicker over Sesshoumaru's face, alternating from annoyance to affection. She didn't have much time to snicker, however, as Rin soon released Sesshoumaru to hug her, and it was the demon's turn to grin.
"We missed you too, Rin-chan," Kagome told the girl as she picked her up and settled her on her hip. Sesshoumaru found himself wondering if the woman would be the same with their child.
Then he shook his head to rid such thoughts from his mind. Why should he care? The only reason he wanted the child was because he needed an heir, and this was a lot better than going through the trouble of mating someone like Melira. Wasn't it?
Grumbling to himself, he caught sight of Kagome as she walked off in the direction of her old room. "Woman, wait."
Kagome twisted to face him with an annoyed look on her face. "I thought we'd been over this. I have a name you know, Fluffy." Rin giggled, but she trailed off when both adults ignored her, engaged in an intense staring match. Finally, Kagome looked away, "Whatever, what do you want?"
Despite his victory, Sesshoumaru frowned. Kagome wasn't one to back down so easily, so why did she this time? Putting the thought aside to ponder later, he answered her, "Your room isn't that way."
Kagome blinked. "My sense of direction isn't that bad."
Sesshoumaru ignored her obvious statement. "This way," he said, walking off in the opposite direction from the way Kagome had been headed. After all that had happened, it seemed more reasonable to settle her in the wing of his castle that was reserved for members of the western lord's family. He just didn't want to have to explain it to the woman; last night had been bad enough. "Here," the demon said as he slid open the door to her new quarters.
"This is right next to Rin's room!" the child exclaimed as Kagome set her down to look around. From the expression on the woman's face, she was pleased. Rin was running around in circles, pointing out all the pretty things.
Sesshoumaru led Kagome through the sitting room and into the bedroom. Touching a hidden door on the other side of the bed, he explained, "This leads to my room."
Kagome blushed. "Umm, isn't this … isn't this supposed to be the room for your wife?"
"No one's using it," was all Sesshoumaru would say. "There's no reason why you can't." With that, he walked out of the room, leaving Kagome to wonder…
***
"Sesshoumaru-sama!" The demon lord turned to see Jaken running up to him, and for a moment, his cool façade dropped completely.
"What happened to you!?" He hadn't known that Jaken was a cross dresser.
The toad demon looked down at himself and twitched once, but otherwise remained unruffled. "Rin and I were playing," he said, deadpan. "We like to play." He grinned widely with a sort of demented smile.
Sesshoumaru begin to doubt the wisdom of leaving Jaken alone with Rin for nearly six months.
***
Kagome slipped into the bath with sigh of relief, feeling a very odd sense of déjà vu. A grin appeared at the thought; the two weeks that she had spent here before seemed like a dream. With a sigh, the woman admitted to herself that she could quite happily stay in this dream world forever. Though she couldn't help thinking that she'd get quite wrinkled.
Giggling to herself, she slid lower in the water. If only she could stay in the castle, but her sense of responsibility told her that she would eventually have to go back home and return to school. But Kagome didn't want to think about that at the moment, and since she didn't have to, she pushed the thoughts from her mind, concentrating on her bath instead. It seemed liked forever since she'd had a real bath.
Stretching languorously, the woman caught sight of some movement in her peripheral vision. She turned fully, to see Sesshoumaru slipping into the bath with her. Blushing, she turned away in an attempt to cover herself.
"Don't worry about that," the demon said with obvious humor in his voice, "It's not anything I haven't seen already." Kagome had to admit that he had a point, not that that made her feel any better about being nude in front of him.
For a moment, she sat in the water uncomfortably, letting her thoughts flow as she tried not to stare at the man only a few feet away. Finally she couldn't take it anymore, and turned to face him fully.
He was watching her. And the sad part was she was so used to it that it didn't even bother her anymore. She merely raised her chin and returned his stare, her modesty forgotten in her determination to ask this question.
"Sesshoumaru," she began quietly. She wanted to look away; she wanted to, but the combined forces of her determination and his golden gaze kept her eyes locked on his. "What- what are we now?" she said forcefully, "Still just companions? Friends? Lovers?" Mates? Spent Kagome finally let her head drop as she waited for the demon to reply, not sure that he was going to, not sure that she wanted him to.
For a while, he said nothing, and Kagome couldn't get up the guts to see the look on his face. After a few moments of unbearable silence, she was ready to leave, rude or not, unable to take it anymore. But just before she rose, he spoke, softly but confidently, "What do you want us to be Kagome?"
Her hands clasped together tightly in her lap. "I don't know," she said honestly, "I was kind of hoping you could help me figure it out."
The demon lord sat back and only then did Kagome realize that he'd been leaning forward intently. Odd, but he seemed almost disappointed by her answer. "I told you I would take care of the child, and you, as long as you wish to stay here. But I am afraid that that is all I can do," Sesshoumaru paused, running his fingers through his damp hair. "I will eventually have to take a mate and produce an heir."
Kagome winced, though she fought very hard to hide it. He had practically told her the she and her baby weren't good enough. But what did she expect? She was only human after all. So instead she grinned, "Speaking of which, what are we going to name him anyway?"
Sesshoumaru snorted, "Don't you think it's a bit early to worry about that?"
Kagome grinned wider, "It's never to early to start thinking about baby names."
***
It was raining, and Kagome was bored. She'd snapped at Sesshoumaru earlier while in a nasty mood swing, and he'd disappeared so she couldn't even apologize. Not in the mood to deal with Rin, she'd sent the girl off to play with Jaken, all the while worrying about the toad demon's mental health, but not enough so that she was willing to baby sit the girl. Only now she was all alone with nothing to do.
A glint from the table caught her attention as she paced in her room: the shards that they had collected so far. Carefully, she lowered herself to the floor next to the table with a sigh of relief. Nearly seven months pregnant, and she had begun to look like a blimp, and was feeling the full effects of it. Her feet ached if she stood too long, her back ached no matter what she did, and worst of all, she had to pee all the time. In fact, the only place where she felt marginally comfortable was in the weightlessness of the water in the bath.
Brushing back her tears that seemed to come on endlessly now, Kagome turned to the collection of shikon shards, determined to do something useful with her time. In particular, her eyes were drawn to the two amber earrings that Omura had given her ages ago. She really hadn't thought much of them until know, but having nothing better to do, Kagome decided to see if she could find a way to get the shards out of the amber without shattering them further.
Several hours later, she was still pondering the problem when the shoji door to her room slid open after a curt knock. Kagome looked up with a start, seeing the demon lord standing in her doorway, arms crossed over his chest and frowning slightly down at her.
"I know you are angry with me, but that's no reason to skip dinner," he said.
Kagome blinked as she puzzled out what he was talking about. Oh yeah, she had yelled at him earlier. "I'm not mad at you Sesshoumaru," she assured him. "Is it dinner time already?"
"Past. I was surprised that you weren't there; you eat constantly after all. I would have thought that you'd be starving by now." Something unusual flickered in the demon's golden eyes. Concern? Surely not. Why would he be worried about her health?
Her stomach rumbled, and Kagome blushed, "I guess I am. I didn't realize…" Struggling to stand, the woman didn't see that Sesshoumaru had appeared beside her until he was gently helping her up. She blushed redder, but allowed the demon's assistance; embarrassing as it was, she needed it.
Sesshoumaru kept his arm around her waist while the walked toward the dining hall, only releasing her once they had reached it. Rin and Jaken were waiting for them within, but as Rin seemed to be thoroughly occupied with annoying the toad demon, Kagome allowed herself to retreat into her thoughts while they ate.
They had spent most of the last seven months in Sesshoumaru's castle, with a few short jaunts on shard hunting trips towards the beginning of her pregnancy. The demon lord had become increasingly protective of her, especially after she began to show. When a demon had almost jumped her on one of their trips, Sesshoumaru had decided that she needed to be taught hand fighting, but at the same time was worried about hurting her, although he would never admit it. The whole experience had been rather amusing. Other than that, it seemed that she had read every book in the library when she wasn't playing with Rin. They had been back to see her family only once, before she'd started to show. Kagome winced at the memory; her mother had not been happy to hear the news, although for some odd reason, she hadn't been as furious as Kagome had thought she'd be. The good part was that Grandpa was out of the hospital, still in a wheelchair, but on the road to recovery.
Once they'd eaten, Sesshoumaru quietly walked Kagome back to her room after ordering Jaken to put Rin to bed. Kagome let him, not that she'd been able to stop him anyway; trying would have only ended up in a huge argument and getting carried to her bed. But the truth was, she kind of liked his protective attitude, even though she had to admit deep down that it was probably only on an instinctual level. Still it was nice to dream about knights in shining armor – yea right – especially with her hormone-induced bouts of whimsy.
Sesshoumaru was eying the jewel shards that lay scattered about her table, Kagome realized suddenly as she broke from her thoughts. What was even stranger – since the demon lord had never shown any interest in them before – was that he was staring at them as though they were the most loathsome things on earth. A little nervous, she moved forward until she caught his eye. "We've got quite a few," she said quietly. "At least a fourth of the jewel, but I think probably closer to a third. Inu-Yasha and the others had almost another fourth when I'd left them, plus whatever they've gathered since then, so that's almost half."
"Naraku has some too," the demon added.
Kagome chewed her lower lip thoughtfully. "Yea, he's got a lot. Kouga has two shards in his legs," Kagome wasn't overly surprised to hear Sesshoumaru growl at the wolf-demon's name, "and there's a shard in Kohaku's back as well." She sighed again, "Naraku though … he's going to be trouble."
No sooner than she had said the words, the half-demon in question burst through her wall. Without thinking, the woman's hand reached out for the shards, but in her state, she was too slow and the hanyou reached the shards just as Kagome's hand closed around Omura's amber earrings.
Sesshoumaru growled, furious that anyone would break into his castle, and lunged. But Naraku, or more realistically, one of Naraku's clones, leapt away and escaped. Kagome caught the demon lord's sleeve before he could follow. "Let him go," she said, showing him the earrings. "We were going to have to go after him anyway, but," the woman hesitated, knowing that Sesshoumaru was not going to like what she had to say, "we are going to need some help to defeat him."
Sesshoumaru growled, but nodded, "I know."
"It needs to be soon," Kagome continued. "Especially now that he has our shards."
"I could have stopped him."
"He would have kept coming."
The demon was silent for a while. "Fine. But don't think that you are going to fight while carrying my brat." With that he was gone, slipping through the door between their rooms before Kagome had even realized he'd moved.
***
Sesshoumaru cursed silently to himself as he paced as quietly as possible in his bedroom. How did he get into these situations? First Naraku managed to get past his guards – which they would hear about later – steals Kagome's shards and now somehow the pregnant witch had convinced him to take her into a battle.
She was impossible. The demon lord wasn't about to even try and convince her to stay behind. Kagome wouldn't stand for it. So he had no choice but to take her with him to face Naraku, and it would be next to impossible to keep a close watch on her all the time, especially when he needed to be watching that treacherous hanyou.
"Dammit!" Sesshoumaru hissed, before he remembered that Kagome was only in the next room and that paper walls were not exactly soundproof. In a very uncharacteristic move for the dog-demon, Sesshoumaru sat down and felt sorry for himself.
When had he stopped thinking of Kagome as nothing more that a way to get Tetsusaiga? It was before he had actually acquired the sword, he was sure. Thinking back, Sesshoumaru recalled everything that they had been through together, all the shard hunts, all the near misses, that baby. Sometime during all of this, Kagome had become a part of his life, just as Rin had. And he almost … loved her.
Snarling, the demon lord shook the thoughts from his mind. Demons had no concept of love. They had honor and duty, and that was why he was taking care of Kagome, not because he wished she would stay forever.
Sesshoumaru stood suddenly, stalking over to the door between their rooms purposely and sliding it open without a second thought. Kagome was fast asleep, curled up on her futon. Kneeling down next to her, the demon watched the mother of his child sleep.
She was beautiful.
"Kagome," he whispered. His hand slid forward to caress her cheek softly, and slipped down her neck to rest his clawed fingers on her jugular. It would be so easy, one little slit and she would bleed out in her sleep, without ever knowing. He could free himself of his unwanted thoughts and feelings and solve her problems.
Except … he knew, all promises, aside, he couldn't – wouldn't be able to – kill her, his Kagome.
***
If Sesshoumaru was grumpier than usual, Kagome didn't notice. For once, she was too wrapped up in her own worries to think about anyone else. With a small sigh, she laid her head on the demon lord's shoulder as they flew. Every second brought them closer to them, to Inu-Yasha and the friends that she had betrayed.
"Is something wrong?" the demon asked.
Kagome looked up. For once, Sesshoumaru wasn't staring at her, so she took the opportunity to do a little scrutinizing of her own. He was beautiful, not that she didn't know that, but it wasn't any less true now than it had been over a year ago. She sighed again. "I'm fine."
"You're shaking."
Kagome started as she realized that she was, indeed, trembling. "I- I guess I'm just nervous."
They landed, and Sesshoumaru looked down at her, some unintelligible emotion lingering in his eyes for a moment before it was washed away. He set her down. "Don't be. They will understand." Kagome didn't argue with him; he was probably right anyway.
"Why are we here anyway? I don't feel the shards, so they can't be close by," Kagome said confused.
Sesshoumaru stared off into the distance, "They are coming." Sure enough, within a few moments, Inu-Yasha's group came into view. Unconsciously, Sesshoumaru stepped partially in front of Kagome, obscuring her condition from view for now. True, she was wearing loose clothes, but after seven months it was pretty obvious what had happened to her.
Perhaps inevitably, Inu-Yasha attacked as soon as he saw his hated older brother. He didn't make it; Kagome's liberal use of 'sit' insured that.
"Kagome-sama!" "Kagome-chan!" The others called out happily, bypassing Inu-Yasha who was getting up with a little help from Kikyo. Unnoticed by the others, Sesshoumaru squeezed Kagome's shoulder reassuringly.
She smiled up at him before turning back to her friends. Before anyone could get in a word, Inu-Yasha yelled, "Wench! What happened to you?"
Kagome blushed and looked down at herself, "Well…" But before she could continue, Inu-Yasha attacked Sesshoumaru again. To his credit, the demon lord merely parried his brother's blows.
"What did you do to her you asshole?" Inu-Yasha snarled, "Answer me! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO KAGOME?" Without warning, Sesshoumaru backhanded his brother viciously, knocking him to the ground.
"Sit!" Kagome screamed, finishing the demon's job for him. "He didn't do anything to me you idiot! Now will you just shut up and listen to me for a sec?"
The others were dumbstruck. But not for long, at least in Miroku's case. "Why Kagome-sama, I'm insulted," the monk said dramatically, holding a hand to his heart, "That you did not allow me the same honor."
***
Pregnant.
Inu-Yasha was having a hard time believing it, but it was all too apparent every time he looked at Kagome. She was carrying his brother's child. There was no doubt in his mind; he could smell it.
All this waiting, all this hoping, was for nothing. Every day he woke with the hope that he would find Kagome again, but when he finally did … she was like this. And with his brother no less.
So finally, the half-demon began to realize that he was losing Kagome to another, and indeed, he had probably already lost her.
***
"Where are your shards?" Kagome asked while she munched on some rations that the others had, and petting Shippou who had attached himself to her.
Sango sighed, "Naraku." She didn't need to explain.
Kagome nodded sagely, looking up at Sesshoumaru who was standing beside her. "Yea, he got ours too. But," she fingered the amber drops in her ears, "He missed a few." Smiling brightly, she turned to Sango and Miroku. "That's why we're here. We wanted to see if you wanted to help us get the shards back from Naraku."
Inu-Yasha muttered something that sounded nasty under his breath, but everyone ignored him. He hadn't been in a very good mood since Kagome and Sesshoumaru had shown up anyway.
Sango and Miroku eyed each other; then looked up at Sesshoumaru, finally, they turned back to Kagome. Miroku grinned at the woman, "Let's go get him.
*Miroku is still drooling over his pics*
LL: *pokes Miroku* Man, this is no fun. And all the trouble I went through too. You should have seen the look on the lady's face at the magazine store when I bought a whole bunch of Playboy's.
Sesshy: O_O
J0rge: You didn't…
LL: I told her I bought them for the articles.
Miroku: *finally realizing that there are other people there* Oh! *grabs LL's hand* Will you bear my child?
LL: Fuck no!
B0b: Well, there you have it folks. It appears that some things are impossible even on Ellycian.