Unexpected

An Inu Yasha Fan Fiction by Caitlin M.

Moogleheadgirl@cs.com

Disclaimer: I don't own Inu Yasha or anything associated with it. So don't sic any lawyers on me.

Chapter 4: Admitting Is the First Step

Four and a half years had passed since the day Inu Yasha took off with the baby. My life was going as well as could be expected. I was putting myself back together, basically. I figured things would start looking up eventually.

And they did. Just not the way I had counted on.

It was just after my last final exam of the semester. I had a course or two take over summer, but after that I'd have fulfilled all the graduation requirements and would be ready to move on into the real world. I had no idea what I was going to do then. For some reason, I hadn't been bothered to think that far.

Almost as soon as I entered school, I had somehow managed to obtain a boyfriend. Don't ask me how I did this, because I don't know. But Hideaki and I had been going out steadily since. He's a year younger, but because of my late start and slow going, he'd already graduated. He had an internship at an office near campus, and often stopped by to visit.

One such a visit was the while I was sitting outside, sipping on a soda and wondering what I was going to do with the short space of free time I would have between end of second semester and the first day of summer school. Lost in thought, I didn't notice he was sitting next to me until he reached over and helped himself to a large gulp of my drink.

He asked me what I was thinking, and I explained my dilemma to him. He turned his eyes skyward.

"We could go somewhere together. Maybe to the ocean for a few days. How does that sound?" he suggested. "Just the two of us…we could get a room together…." He watched me with anticipation.

"Hmmm." I got like this sometimes… neither here nor there. Inside my head, I was screaming. He had never suggested anything so intimate before, and I didn't know what to do. I felt rather than saw him watching me for a moment, then he reached out to hold my chin.

"Kagome," he started, turning my head to face him. "You probably haven't noticed, but our relationship has hardly been all heat and passion. If anything, it's been a very nice, very sedate friendship." I started to protest, but he continued. "I don't mind. I've enjoyed it very much. Maybe it hurt when I first realized it, but I've come to accept it. And nothing could stop me from being your friend. But I can't help but think there's someone or something else you're thinking about…constantly, I might add. It's extremely obvious to anyone who knows you well, and we know each other very well. And as a friend, I think I have a right to know everything. I mean it. The whole story."

I looked away, suddenly very interested in my drink. I noticed that if I looked at it in just the right way, the reflection of a cloud in it looked very much like Inu Yasha's hair. And it was just pathetic I should think about him when my boyfriend of over four years had just broken up with me.

Only Hideaki is hideously, horribly, unforgivably right. I had glommed onto him at first, probably because I was determined to prove to the world that I could and would move on, and the fact that the two of got along so well is probably what kept the relationship going. But in the end we were just friends.

I supposed I should have felt guilty, but it was a relief to know that he wasn't hurt by it. Much. Over the years I had very nearly convinced myself that I was a decent human being. If I had, say, broken Hideaki's heart beyond repair, all that work would have been for nothing.

I studied the Inu Yasha cloud in my cup for another moment. Well, what did I have to lose? I took a deep breath.

"Ihadababy," I said all at once.

"Er…"

Slow down, girl.

"I had a baby."

"Oh…but…um…recently?"

"No. Just before I entered school."

"But you…er… you don't have one now," he said slowly.

"No."

"Am I allowed to ask what happened?"

"The father wanted the baby, I thought I wanted college… we went our separate ways." I sounded reasonably calm, but already I could feel tears working their way free. I had thought this a long-dead issue. I guess I was wrong.

"You thought? And what happened to him?" Hideaki leaned over and took my hand. He squeezed it, and I realized I wasn't fooling anyone. Screw appearances. It's crying time.

"He…wasn't from around here. When I had it, he took it back home with him. I haven't really heard from him since…. Oh, Hideaki, I don't know if I even had a boy or a girl. I don't know what he named it, I don't know anything."

He pulled me into his arms and whispered quiet encouragement into my ear. "Wouldn't the hospital have records? A birth certificate?"

"I had it at home. It was the middle of the day, and no one else was home. There was no one to take me to the hospital. It was just me and Inu Yasha."

"That's kind of a weird name."

"He's a weird guy."

"He couldn't drive or use the phone?"

"No. He…wasn't used to modern conveniences. It's not that advanced where he comes from."

"You never mentioned him before."

"I thought it best to forget."

He was quiet again.

"Kagome, you're not telling me everything."

He's on to me. "You'll think I'm crazy."

"No. I promise. Just tell me."

So I did. I didn't care if Hideaki tried to have me committed once I was finished. I was just sick of keeping it all in. I told him all of it, from start to finish. The afternoon light dwindled, and night started to fall. Eventually, he pulled me to my feet and started walking me. I didn't know where we were headed, but I didn't care much, because I was still going. He led me through the city, taking me to a building and inside, and I realized we were in his apartment. He sat me on a couch and handed me some tea, but I was still going strong. I talked well into the night, and when I finally finished, Hideaki stared at me, obviously dazed.

"I think…I think I'll be taking you home tomorrow morning," he said at last. Then he stuck me in his room and took some blankets out to the couch for himself.

To Be Continued…

Author's note:

I'm getting better at making the chapters longer. You should all be very proud of me for that. See you next time.