Another awfully long Author's Note:
Well, the same thing applies to this chapter as well... It has outrun us and now reaches the end of this chapter.

Chapter 11
Things to come...

Inuyasha felt something stinging his eyes and tried his best to avoid the piercing feeling, but it was impossible; it burnt his face with a might of unthinkable proportions.

Suddenly turning his back, flopping Shippou of his waist and managing to squeeze the little kit between his and Kagome's bodies, he muttered: "Damn you, eastern window... Can't you shut close on your own?"

Of course, the mean, creeky, old shutters paid no heed, resulting in a very badly risen hanyou. Grumbling like a child, rubbing his sleepy eyes, he lifted himself off the matting and onto his feet.

Hearing a soft, distinct thud, Inuyasha could not help but cast a turbid glance at the two figures still lying on the matress next to his bare feet. 'Kagome... Shippou...' Drawing in a shaky breath at the scent of the two reaching his nose, he shook his head, turning his back on them to go close the stupid thing fast...

As he walked towards the wall, he realised that the houshi and the taijiya had left the hut, as had the old miko. 'Kaede-baba must have gone to take care of some sick girl or cast a spell or something somewhere around the village, I suppose. But where are the other two? Had they left us alone to sleep smoothly? Or is it possible that they have asked for some privacy for once?' Smirking at the thought, yet easilly dismissing it, for Miroku behaved in such an almost-deranged manner concerning women that it seemed unlikely that Sango would look at him with the slightest hint of interest. 'Not in honest, at least!' he thought with a mental image of the two of them acting like sweethearts... Now that stroke him as out of place!

Finally reaching for the shutters, he pulled them back, darkening the room in a very comfortable way. Once again turning around, this time facing his two companions whom he slept with last night, he grinned widely, admitting to himself that they should find a way to make a match out of the two, just like Kagome had tried in the past.

It was like this that Kagome saw him, looking at them intently yet good-naturedly. She looked around a little to understand why was it so dark, and when she realised what had happened, she yawned hugely. Slightly dizzy from the sleep that she had just gotten off, she picked up the tiny youkai, wrapping her arms around his cute and young, though not frail, body in an unconscious, instictively maternal way, effectively plastering an even wider grin on his face, getting closer with every small step.

"Good morning, love. Sleep well?" she asked, Shippou being so small and clinging so close to her that had he lacked his youkai appearance he could pass for a child of hers. Inuyasha's heart skipped a bit at the image, his pride and joy at the thought of children, their children, filling it to the brim...

"Hai. You, darling?" he questioned in turn, giving a quick peck at her lips with his own.

"Aa... You two helped me a lot yesterday. Arigato..." she said, answering to his previous, quick kiss, with a softer, a bit more drawn one.

"It seems the little fellow from here slept quite soundly, considering how worried he seemed last night. He keeps impressing me with his abiltity to sleep anywhere anytime. I wonder if there is a record concerning how much time you sleep or have slept..." This got a low giggle form Kagome, Shippou slightly stirring in his slumber.

"Tell me, though, do you know where Sango-chan and Miroku-sama have gone? Have you seen them?"

"Ne, they must have left us so we could rest easilly." Kagome had a grumpy look on her face, brows somewhat furrowed at what she was thinking. Inuyasha continued. "Do you think we will be able to turn these two, stubborn, single, little people into a couple someday?"

"Maybe. In a couple of millions of years."

"It's not like you to let them not find the love each one has for the other... And if you feel discouraged at all, my help could both cheer you up and get each other closer, right?" he reasoned.

"Hmm..." Kagome made a mockingly thoughtful face, just as if considering his deal. "I don't know, your 'help' might as well be more of a problem than you think... Just, Inuyasha, you don't have to rouse yourself at such a small thing." At her ego-soothing words, Inuyasha's nose started its trek back down to its original place.

Only to lower to her nose.

It was yet another 'teaser'. A soft, swift stroke of his lips over her own, just to tell her he understood, and loved her, no matter hi manners from time to time. And it worked, not just for the lurching heat in her cheast, but for the deep bond they shared, a bond of love; and blood, as it now was. An obligation and joy at the same time... strengthening this already steel strong connection between the two.

Lifting his gaze for only a moment to revel at her azure eyes, he once again lowered his head, this kiss more assuring and loving, as they begged him for affection. Something he definitely could not resist.

But luck didn't seem to be their way. The two of them quickly broke the kiss as Inuyashalooked out of the door and into the woods, the petit kitsune wiggling from his perch, almost grabbing at her shirt, the 'reek' of a certain youkai faintly reaching Inuyasha's nostrils. And he for once had to thank this youkai's insolent attitude for that.

Kouga seemed to be awfully worked up.

Miroku was once again behind a bush.

Well, he was not merely behind a bush, and not peeking either! He was behind a bush and wondering about a thing or two.

Like if he should stop peeking on Sango. His head seemed more than a little achy from all his travels with the two less than tolerant ladies. Not that he thought of his actions as acceptable, much less appropriate, but headaches are never a nice thing to deal with, especially whenever thinking hard.

It was rather awkward for everyone, actually... While Inuyasha used to show his feelings, or at least hide them, quite dramatically, thus looking rather ticked off if not scary to the death, Miroku was almost always unbarebly calm! No emotions marred his face, except for some pretty tense or sentimental moments, blank for the world to look at, unreadable. One of the few aspects of this figure's perconality that could still make most people who knew Miroku believe that he actually had been trained as a Budhist monk.

His fighting style and mystical powers gave off too, of course, but his perverted thinking when women were involved was very effective at drawing other people's attention away from them rather easy...

"What is your concern now, Houshi-sama? Worried about becoming a god-father, are you?" Sango querried.

"Not really. I suppose you have been asked to be a god-mother as well, am I right?" Sango nodded in a smiling face. "Hai!"

She would not had she known what was Miroku going to ask...

"So, would it not be good for the child, or children, to have a god-brother or sister as well?"

An eerie silence fell for just a second, right before Hiraikotsu fell on the monk's head, before he fell to the ground.
(AN: 3 were 'felled'... I thought this was no action fic or anything! sigh...)

"Ite, ite, ite... What did I do?!" Seriously, should one come up dfter any one time Miroku had the superb idea to act or talk in this special manner of his and during the punishment enacted, they would certainly support the 'helpless, innocent monk'... Only to go on with such mannerisms if they knew him better.

A deep growl rumbled deep down from within Sango's cheast, warning Miroku of his mistake. "Hentai! Don't you dare say such a thing again!" Sango stepped away from him, considering his manners and her feelings.

'Gods, how can I love this man? He is such a hentai! And flat-headed, and a pain, and gorgeous, and...' At her deliberate attempt to stirr him out of her mind, she only managed to get herself a bit embarrassed at her fantasies about Miroku... 'Why I, of all women, should ever fall for you, Miroku-chan?'

"What is it, Sango-sama? You look... concerned."

Sango shook her head to clear her mind and gather her thoughts. When she was satisfied with the results: "It's nothing, Houshi-sama, really nothing. I am just a bit worried with the turn of things..." Her head bowed a little, trying to hide her eyes beneath her long banks, as they started to slightly sting at the sides...

"Don't worry, Sango-sama, everything will be alright, I am sure of that. Should there be a problem of any sort, we will be able to help."

Sango was startled, her head snapping involuntarily up, not as much at his words but at his hand resting on her shoulder. He actually patted it in a comforting way, but his hand never went below it! She was trully surprised.

Until she realised that he might have thought of something else...

"I don't believe you could ever think of peeking and groping on Kagome while she would be having problem giving birth!" She said, Hiraikotsu raised in a very tempting way... For Sango, at least.

"Nani?! Mou, Sango-sama, I didn't mean anything even close to that!"

"Houshi-sama, is it me or has anything in particular made you somewhat nicer?"

Miroku blushed a deep crimson as he coughed out: "Ne, ahem, I... ah, don't know, I think... ahh..."

At that point, Miroku and Sango felt a flow of youki through Inuyasha's forrest.

"Someone has come..." Miroku pointed out.

"Get your hands off her NOW, inukkoro! And take that whining little kit out of my woman too."

Inuyasha tensed once again at his words. Sometimes like this one he would really like to finish this stupid, stubborn youkai! They were officially mated in THREE ways, damn him, could he not just get it? 'Arrogant, selfish bastard...'

"I said NOW, damn half-breed inu!"

"Ne, Kouga. I will never leave her, do you understand? If you want to find a bitch, do so, but Kagome and I belong to each other, got it?"

"I said.."

"I don't give a DAMN about what YOU said!"

"I..."

Kagome was getting pissed off at Kouga's arrogant words, her patience reaching its break limit. "I don't care! 'My woman' this and 'my woman' that... I, as I have already said, am his mate, you know?!" Kagome was red, because of being both angry and embarrassed.

She could not get another word any faster, as Kouga reached over to him, while Inuyasha let go of her, so that he could defend everyone still inside against the savage that the youkai had turned into after what he felt in Kagome's scent.

The final clash between the two seemed it had just began...

Another chapter has met its tragic end. Sniff! Well, more of those heart-melting reviews may help me write faster. (_O.o`

BONG! "ITE! Sango-san, you are going to pay for this!" O~O "Ne, lower Hiraikotsu, Sango-san?" Whirl. "Gyaaa!"

"Baka yaro! If you bring Houshi-sama back to his normal hentai self, prepare to die!" Sango blushes, waves at the direction of you, the present otaku, then leaves the crime scene, Hiraikotsu casually slung over her shulder...

Ite... Anyway, everyone who finds out what the strange smiley at the end of the first after-the-end-of-the-chapter comment was for wins the right to ask a question or two concerning the plot twists to come... ^v^

My God, you people are GOOD! Never thought you were going to figure out all these things at once! I nearly fell of my chair when I read the first reviews for the previous chapter... Sesshoumarou won't show up just yet, but Kouga and Miroku/Sango stuff were making me crasy with being put up, and considering some requests I chose to put them up at last.
And my apologies... Typographical errors (aka typos) are the result of me not using MS Word, since I find that its saving and/or exporting techniques place a lot of junk data in the final document (anyone who has seen the source of any .htm file saved under Word knows what I am talking about!) and thus am writing without grammary/dictionary software. I trully put a lot of effort on correcting any possible mistakes I 've made, but I certainly am far from perfect. Furthermore, english is not my mother tongue, which may have resulted in confusion between British English and American English. Secondly, I am really sorry for making any misunderstanding in previous chapters. From now on, whenever I find something too vague or confusing I will try my best to correct it.
Especially to you that have posed any questions:
1. This story has not yet ended. I haven't finished with it, have I?
2. Kagome does not know if the babies (should there be more than one) will live after the birth, since she won't give birth in a clinic, as I've already said, but in private property (the couple's house, the family shrine or whatever).
3. Well, suppose you probably were pregnant with more than child, very young and lacked confidence. Would you not be worried?
4. I know I put a lot of stuff in one sentence. It is my writing nemesis! Apart from being a series killer of spelling, that is...