After the great battle of the Jewel, in which Miroku the houshi, Sango the youkai taijiya, and Shippo the fox kitsune, paired with Inuyasha the hanyou and the miko Kagome from the future defeated the evil hanyou Naraku, a great party took place in the village of it's protectorate. All who had felt the loom of Naraku's undying cruelty appeared to share in the rejoicing. A pack of wolf youkai under the rule of the kind Koga, several nobles and peasants from neighboring villages, and other odd assortments of guests formed a party that led to the good byes of heart felt friends to the young miko Kagome.
However, the young lady of time did not leave the realm alone. She took with her a token of her lover's undying affection in the form of a hanyou child hidden unknowingly in her womb before her departure. The legend says nothing more of the young lady of time, but details the death of it's once and future protector, the disappearance of the jewel, and the long lives of it's vialant guardians.
Kagome yawned and stretched. She hadn't had a night's sleep like that in years, but then again she hadn't had such a demanding night as her last one. She had emotionally dealt with saying goodbye to all she'd come accustomed to, she made love with her favorite hanyou, and had to physical prepare for the feast and to say goodbye. Her farwell to Sango and Miroku was especially heart wrenching because she knew they were to be wed and she painfully wished she could be there. Kagome shook her head. She'd cried herself to sleep last night and that should've taken away all the hurt. Little did she know...
"Kagome! Breakfast!" bellowed the loving voice of her mother.
"Com-" Kagome started when suddenly the urge to throw up caught her by the throat. In a mad dash to make it to safe dispatching Kagome ran down the hall to the bathroom and puked her guts out. A scarey thought loomed in her head. Can you get morning sick this early after? she thought seriously.
"Kagome? Kagome are you alright?" wailed her mother, now finding her bent over the toilet in release stance. Kagome nodded and got up with a smile.
"Fine," she replied earnestly. It's probably just some of that meat Koga brought for the party last night. Inuyasha did say it smelled like dying fungus. Kagome was able to truly laugh at the thought and in return ease her mother's worries.
"Good. When I heard the noises you were making it worried me dear. Grandfather says he wants to speak you as soon as you finish your pancakes," her mother informed as they made their way downstairs. Kagome looked over and half nodded her acknowledgments. He'd better not want me to become a full time Miko for him...not after all that happened in the Sengoku Jedai...I'm not strong enough to fend off demons like Kikyo encountered. Kagome smirked at the name in her head. Kikyo...Inuyasha had finally choosen Kagome once and for all over the undead miko and Kagome could safely say she felt smug over it.
"Hey sis, long night?" asked Souta as the two came into the kitchen. He was sitting at the table in his pajamas with a full stack of pancakes before him. The look of worry on his face told her that he had heard her crying through the wall. She nodded and threw in a smile for good measure.
"A very long night. But everything's finally calming down," she grinned, "you can start eating now," she added, noticing that he wasn't going to touch his food until his older sister sat down at her plate. Her mother giggled at the display of sibling affection and Souta turned bright red.
"Baka!" he managed to say before burying himself in pancakes. Kagome had two stakes with butter and extra syrup, orange juice and eight pieces of bacon. Her mother looked at her with genuine wonderment.
Kagome finished up breakfast and went to put on her clothes. A pink sweater and a dark blue skirt would do nicely for the cool August air and as a final touch she placed Inuyasha's prayer beads on. She had taken them off of him and gripped them firmly when he went to shatter them last night. She begged him, with all her heart, to let her keep them as a reminder...and maybe they would help her verify his soul one day. As Kagome finally made her way out to the shrine entrance she found herself taking the long way, passing by the God Tree and the Bone Eater's Well. It's only natural to miss them, she assured herself internally, especially Inuyasha after last night. She gently placed a hand on the God Tree and stared absently into the branches. The wind brushed her hair over her cheeks and ruffled her skirt up the same way Inuyasha had when he stuck his hand up her skirt on their return to the party after their late night escapade. Inuyasha...
"Hey you, get away from there!" snarled her grandfather and Kagome looked over dully. She wasn't interested in whatever it was he had to say. Inuyasha's tree couldn't hurt her and would in no way hurt her by casting a spell on her, Inuyasha's spirit wouldn't allow it.
"Why?" she asked anyway, not moving her hand.
"Because! I need to talk to you!" he answered and pulled her away. Kagome boredly followed, letting her grandpa pull her through the shrine and into the back closet. A momentary fear took her over at the thought of being somewhere scarey without her friends but vanished upon the production of an old book. Her grandfather opened it saying: "when you first fell down the well I didn't think to look at this book of true legends and I didn't remember the legend at all until you told me what happened and I saw Inuyasha for the first time." Kagome visibly cringed at the name. "But here, look see! You are the young lady of time, the miko Kagome."
"I know that Grandpa," Kagome retorted monotonously. Her grandpa looked at her miffled.
"No! Look, there is a very old legend about you. I would've shown it to you sooner but there was information in here that could've changed the course of time," he explained. Kagome read the passage and nearly fainted. All of it, her entire story and Inuyasha's was documented in this book.
"GRANDPA! WHERE DID YOU GET THIS!" demanded Kagome. Her grandfather gave her a calming look.
"It's a very old and very popular book of True Legends my dear. You'll be studying it in high school next semester," he explained.
"So everyone already knows about the well???"
"No, that's the legend that this shrine is based on because of the jewel. But I didn't remember anything about the Kagome girl falling down the well. It's probably because when my father owned this shrine he passed down the story onto me and well, I was young and neglected my books. But now I know...You know how people come here thinking that it's all a legend? Well that's what they think of the Young Lady of Time as well," he beamed. Kagome awed.
"So they all know about me but not really?" she questioned. He nodded as he inspected the passage. "Wow...and what's that last part say? I didn't get past the word Koga," she replied, leaning over the book.
"Hmm," grunted her grandpa.
"What?" He pointed to the very last of the passage and Kagome read it.
"I don't remember that part ever being there," he said curiously. Kagome chuckled nervously and sat back on her haunches.
"Grandpa...what if I told you that....um, well..."
"This couldn't be true, for that to happen you and Inuyasha would have had to have sex," he spoke to himself, completely ignoring his granddaughter's efforts to admit. She flushed bright purple at her grandfather's voicing of it and thought she was going to be sick again.
"Well grandpa, that's what I was trying to tell you...I...um...I think I'm pregnant!" she cried in a shriek and ducked as though she expected to be hit.
"WHAT?" he screamed and all the birds in the nearby trees scattered. Kagome nodded.
"I think I got morning sickness a few hours ago," she whimpered. Her grandfather calmed down and shook his head.
"No, you exhausted yourself last night and ate some under cooked meat. You couldn't be showing signs this early. But mind you they will be coming soon..." he growled, almost tolerantly.
"I guess your right. Since we only.....did....it last night," she tried but talking to her grandfather about her and Inuyasha having sex was too embarrassing, even if he knew about it, and she found herself blushing from her hair to her toes.
"Well then...that explains the part about you not leaving that time alone and the unknowing part...But what's this about the death of the once and future protector. I thought you were the protector and it already said that no more was mentioned of you in the legend." Kagome thought for a second and the smug grin returned.
"They mean Kikyo. Kikyo dies. The once and future protector because I'm her reincarnation and I protected it."
"Well, what's this about the disappearance of the jewel, you think? Don't you have it?"
"No," Kagome replied firmly. "I gave it to Inuyasha before I left."
"In exchange for those!" he yelled, pointing to Inuyasha's spell beads hanging around Kagome's neck. Kagome's hand went to them instantly in defense mode.
"No! And don't you talk about them like that!" she snarled. Her grandpa's face went pinkish and he nodded. No one really enjoyed arguing with a truly angry Kagome in any time period.
"They would've only disappeared if he made a wish on it,"her grandfather explained. Kagome sighed tiredly and got up.
"That means nothing good to me..."she replied solemnly and left. Her grandpa watched after her sadly. Kagome had a very hard time ahead of her, and she wasn't even finished with the one she was having.
March.......2 yrs later
Kagome wiped the sweat off her forehead and spiked the ball again. She had gotten very good at sports after her beautiful baby baby boy was born. She named him Mihaku, after Kohaku and Miroku (a tribute to her friends) and he was now ten months old. She was still in school and her mother played a very big role in watching the baby while she was there. Souta baby sat sometimes when on the extremely RARE occassion Kagome would leave Mihaku and her friends visited constantly, wanting to play with the baby and invite both mother and child out for dinner. This surprised her because Mihaku had been born with claws like Inuyasha and stark white hair just like Inuyasha's, and even his eyes were a very pale brown version of his father's. She wondered if they could even notice the hanyou in the sweet tiny angel. But it didn't bother her long. Kagome was too busy fending very nicely for herself. She became stronger in both her miko powers and physical abilities, not wanting to slack off in case her Mihaku was attacked. Another thing she did not slack on...wearing Inuyasha's beads around her neck. Her friends had asked about those too, but Kagome would not reply with an answer any of them could understand.
"Hey Kag!" screamed a warning from Eri across the field. Kagome looked up in time to see the ball dropping toward her and punted it just over the fence to win another point.
"YEAH! WE WON!" shouted her side. Eri, who had sent the pass over and was afraid it would hit her friend, frowned. She was on the losing side because of her love for her friend. Kagome grinned broadly and draped an arm over Eri's shoulder.
"Thanks Eri," she said earnestly and both girls laughed their way inside. Kagome got dressed quickly and checked herself in the mirror as the others were finishing up. She wore her hair up in a ponytail almost all the time now, it was just easier and Mihaku couldn't grab it that way. Also she had gotten it trimmed a couple inches so it was a little bit shorter and out of reach of the ten months' hands. She adjusted the prayer beads a little bit, allowing her sorrow to play openly on her face. She had never missed her beloved more than when she looked at Mihaku. He would've loved to be with Mihaku, to show him what it was like to have a father.
"Kagome stop that, we've got to go and get Mihaku," Yuki smiled. Kagome grinned. Leave it to her friends to remind her she was still happy despite the absence of her only love.
"I'll race ya!" Kagome piped.
"No! You always win, that's not fair!" Yuki and Eri moaned. Kagome laughed.
"Okay, okay," she agreed and they walked out of the school toward the Higurashi shrine and Kagome's home. They picked up the beautiful baby boy and walked down the stairs laughing and poking fun at him until suddenly Kagome froze.
"What is it?" asked Eri nervously.
"Youkai," Kagome replied and then shrugged it off. She had sensed youkai two or three times in the past and instead of hunting them down let it pass. That was what she intended to do this time, especially since she had Mihaku with her. Eri and Yuki passed each other creeped out looks. They were beginning to get used to this, after everything that Kagome had sensed since she got well they should've thought it was old news. But it never gets old to hear a teenager with an odd though attractive baby say "i'm sensing a demon". As they walked down the street Yuki ran ahead to get smoothies. She and Eri finished their's first and then Kagome handed Mihaku to Eri so she could drink hers. Mihaku protested.
"Ow! Kagome!" Eri whined.
"Mihaku! Claws! Stop that squirming before you really hurt Eri," she scolded and the baby relunctantly ceased. Eri's arm was scratched no more than a cat scratch but it was a wound she was used to receiving. At least he would stop now when told. Mihaku made a whimpering noise remarkably close to a puppy's and Yuki choked. Kagome beamed happily and petted the baby's head.
"It's okay sweetheart, mommy's right here. She's not going to leave you," she assured and Mihaku jerked his head up into her hand.
"It's amazing how much he acts like a dog Kagome, really," Yuki said in astonishment. Eri and Kagome laughed.
"Yeah....it is isn't it," Kagome replied. She had never seen Inuyasha act like this or show his leniage more than sniffing the ground (which Mihaku had yet to do). But then again she never saw Inuyasha when he was THIS small and it could very well be normal, happy hanyou behavior. As they were crossing the street Kagome rushed ahead to hold the door for a lady with several bags and left Yuki and Eri with Mihaku. Just as she was bowing politely in response to the lady's thanks, Kagome heard a car horn blare.
*BEEP*BEEP*
Kagome screamed and Yuki and Eri wailed in fear at the small oncoming car. They had no time to dodge! Eri turned her back to the impact and was suddenly tossed away with Yuki as the car's hood collided with human flesh. One body went flying four feet away from where the accident had happened, but it didn't belong to either of the girls. Kagome raced over to her friends and child to assure their safety. She caressed Mihaku's sweaty forehead softly before she felt the blood beginning to pound in her ears.
"Oh my god mister! Are you okay?" wailed the ridiculously flamboiant driver of Mihaku's near murder. Kagome turned fiercely, not hearing the calls of her friends, and stormed toward the driver. She didn't care about the person who had shoved her friends and son out of the way, she didn't notice their desperate calls or the voice of the man who had helped them, all she knew was that she was going to hurt this man who nearly hurt her son.
"You!" she snarled. "You nearly killed him! I'll slaughter you!" she bellowed.
"KAGOME!" screamed Yuki and rushed forward trying to hold back the very powerful Kagome. Miko energy radiated off of Kagome and Yuki found it very painful to touch Kagome but she didn't give up. Kagome was not the typical mother when it came to protection. She was violently protective of her son and Yuki knew if she let go then the man would die.
"I'll kill you!" Kagome cried. Tears were surfacing at the lids of her eyes and she was fighting harder to get back at him.
"C'mon! It's okay! Stop! Mihaku is safe!" Yuki cried and gripped the prayer beads around Kagome's neck. Kagome stopped instantly and looked at Yuki. "Please, don't hurt him, we're fine..." she pleaded. Kagome looked from her friend to the cowering man in front of her and then to her beloved Mihaku who was crying soundlessly in Eri's arms.
"Let go of the beads," Kagome murmured. "I wanna go home," she added and started off. Eri quickly chased after. Yuki looked back at the gentleman who had saved her and her friends and passed him a pathetic look. She wanted to thank the pale burnette for his help, she wanted to know why he was still alive and moving after being hit like that, and she wanted to explain Kagome's actions but she couldn't manage a word before she heard.
"Yuki," from Eri. Mihaku waved for her with his little clawed hand over Kagome's shoulder. She had obviously comfiscated her son. Yuki ran toward the others and catch up quickly.
"Shippo! Shippo are you okay?" demanded a firm and very familiar voice. Shippo nodded. He felt like he was in a daze. Was that Kagome? She looked different...and definately more violent.
"I'm- I'm fine Inuyasha," Shippo replied as he stood up. Inuyasha sighed and held him up with one arm.
"What the hell got into you?" he cursed, and then to the driver of the car. "You can leave now. We're not going to get you arrested. But be the fuck more careful!" Inuyasha scolded. Shippo looked at him and then back toward where Kagome had been.
"I saw these two women and a baby, in the road. The baby was hanyou, Inuyasha," Shippo explained. Inuyasha looked at him shocked.
"Seriously? It's not everyday we encounter a hanyou. They're pretty rare nowadays," he replied thoughtfully.
"That's not the weird part Inuyasha. That girl called the other one Kagome!" he said. Inuyasha came back to reality instantly.
"Really? Shit! You think it's time? Do you think we can go to her now?" Shippo grinned at Inuaysha's excitement and nodded.
"Could be...I hope so, I can't wait to see her..."
"We've waited this long we can wait a little longer, take our time. We'll go to her tonight. Do NOT go to her without me, she won't recognize you," Inuyasha instructed as they started to walk away from the accident. Neither noticed the crowd that had gathered or the dumbfounded expression on the killer driver's face.
"Oh yeah, and like she'd recognize you, Dog Turd," Shippo retorted before both leapt to the tops of the four story building on their left. The crowd awed and gasped as the two demons disappeared, unphased by the behavior of their audience.
Kagome walked into her room with Mihaku grasped tightly in her arms. "I almost lost you, I almost lost you just like Inuyasha!" she suddenly wailed and dropped to her knees in the middle of her floor. Tears streamed down her face and sobs wracked her body fiercely. Kagome had never been so terrified in her life. She wanted to murder, to kill...was this how Inuyasha felt when someone tried to hurt her? Now his moody behavior all made sense! Mihaku whimpered sadly and pawed at his mother's face. She gazed down at him with watery eyes before placing a lengthy kiss on his forehead. "Don't worry sweetie, it's alright," she assured, trying to convince herself. Quietly she walked over to his crib near the window and laid him down on his back.
"PA" he sputtered. The closeness of the word to 'papa' made Kagome cringe. How she missed her lover, her mate...she sighed heavily and removed Inuyasha's prayer beads.
"Maaaa," she said, forcing a smile as she bent over the crib wall to put the beads around his neck. "But your Pa will protect you tonight. Mommy needs some sleep," she whispered and silently cast a protection spell on the necklace. As long a it was on him, no demon with any blood other than Inuyasha's could touch him. She had come up with that little charm the night he was born. She used another spell from the book her grandfather had showed her the day she came back for good and simply altered it to her needs. That book now sat open on a shelf above her headboard. Occassionally she'd check it, to make sure nothing had changed, but it never did.
"Goodnight Mihaku," Mrs. Higurashi cooed calmly from the doorway. Kagome looked back and smiled warmly.
"Sleep tight, love, don't let the bed bugs bite," she whispered and then walked toward her mother. Not looking back she turned the light off and cracked the bedroom door. Just like his father, Mihaku preferred moonlight, even though the sun was just now setting.
"Mom, do you mind if I sleep with you tonight?" Kagome groaned pitifully. Her mother laughed lightly and wrapped her arms around her.
"Sure," she nodded.
Mihaku sat up in his crib and gazed straight up, out the large bedroom window. Kagome always left the curtains open, what if Inuyasha came to check up on them? He wouldn't be able to see if they were closed.
"PA!" he squealed, patting the beads on his stomach playfully. He still wasn't sleepy. He sensed something, something familiar and similar. "PA!" he uttered again, but this time it came out more of a call than an attempt at speaking.
Shippo leapt from branch to branch happily. It'd been more than 500 years since he'd seen Kagome and finally he could see her again! It was partially because of the balance of space and time, and partially Inuyasha. Kaede had told Inuyasha when he made his wish on the shikon jewel that if he planned to hunt Kagome out in the future, to wait until she had left the well for good. Otherwise time wouldn't be balanced and his being would collaspe and die. Shippo got the same lecture from Inuyasha when he decided to join the hanyou in waiting for Kagome. He had made the, then Kit, promise not to even spy on Kagome's house until it was time. The only problem, neither of them knew the right time! Shippo had given Inuyasha repeated lumps to the head for that one, but Inuyasha was a full demon now and Kagome wasn't around to help the kit. Shippo learned the hard way growing up, that father figures like Inuyasha will play with mother figure Kagome is away. He laughed at the pun in his head. He knew Inuyasha was a lot more protective of him now. He had shared a lot with Shippo that Miroku and Sango didn't even find out in the 50 years that passed between Kagome's depature and the two's nature deaths. Shippo had learned that Kagome and Inuyasha were mated. He learned that when Inuyasha made his wish on the Shikon no Tama he was very specific in wanting to keep his hanyou heart, so that he could still love Kagome once he saw her, AND he found out that Inuyasha murdered Kikyo in cold blood for the mere insulting of Kagome once she was gone. That was during Inuyasha's depression period. He hid from the group for a year, sulking in the mountains, until the idea finally hit him to live until he could die with Kagome. Once Sango and Miroku began popping out kids and Kaede died, Shippo had turned to Inuyasha. He always saw Inuyasha and Kagome as foster parents, but now, after all they'd been through, they were as good as the real thing to him. Inuyasha adopted him when the others died and it was just them left. He also told Shippo that Kagome was now his mother, just like he was his father, and he'd better not make a pass at her when he got older. Shippo had gagged at the thought then, but realized Inuyasha was only making a point now.
"Oi Shippo slow it down already. If she's not home we'll come back!" yelled Inuyasha aggitated, but the look on his face said, I wanna get there first.
"C'mon! I'll race ya!" he laughed. Inuyasha's eye brow raised at the thought. Hmm, race a full grown kitsune against a now grown demon? Hell yes!
"You're gonna wish you were never born!" he laughed and plunged ahead.
Mihaku cooed again and patted fiercely at the beads around his neck.
"PA! PA! PApffft," he chirped happily, ending up in spit. Rotating on his butt he looked at the crib latch that Kagome had repeatedly patched to keep him inside. The urge to escape was great fun and carefully he lifted himself and swung his clawed hand at the tape. It snapped in an instant and the crib wall came crashing down.
Souta dropped a pot in the kitchen while helping Kagome wash dishes and she scowled. "Be careful Souta! You'll wake Mihaku!" she scolded. Souta blushed and mocked his sister behind her back. It wasn't that loud, he thought.
Fearlessly Mihaku took a baby step toward the edge of the crib. The sun had set completely now, leaving darkness in the room other than the light from the hall way door Kagome had left open. Still, there was no moon. Mihaku crashed to the bedroom floor, his hair full black, claws missing, and eyes a dark brown. He was human for the night.
Outside Inuyasha leapt from a huge branch and into the air with a smirk. He was looking back tauntinly at Shippo when suddenly he crashed to the earth below his target. Shippo paused on the tree limb he had last hit and laughed hysterically. It was the night of the full moon and Inuyasha was human. One of the draw backs of keeping your hanyou heart, you keep a hanyou cycle!
Unphased by the fall Mihaku had just taken he looked up with innocent eyes. Cooing brightly as he got to his feet, he wobbled toward the door.
Mrs. Higurashi hummed quietly to herself in her bedroom. She was making the bed so that Kagome could sleep on fresh sheets and was right in the middle of fluffing a pillow when she heard a soft, dull thud. Mihaku tripped on the carpet and was reduced to all fours near the edge of the hallway. Mrs. Higurashi paused in her ministrations for a moment to listen. When she heard nothing else she continued on while Mihaku crawled soundlessly past the open door and toward the stairs on all fours, his black hair hiding the majority of the rest of his body.
"Kagome!" Souta shouted, followed by a quick chorus of "shhhh" from Grandpa and Kagome in the livingroom. "You were supposed to wash the dishes and I dry remember??" he whispered vehmently. Mihaku made his way slowly down the stairs, watching every move carefully. He might be very young, but falling down stairs on your first day of crawling isn't something you forget. He didn't dare try walking down them, his legs were too short.
"I am, Souta, stop complaining. I'm watching the news for class. Gimme a minute alright?" Kagome groaned. Mihaku slumped down another stair.
"Sure you are," Souta replied loudly as he turned on his heel and headed toward the kitchen again, wringing his hands angrily.
"Augh, Grandpa, would you tell me what happens with this foreign weapons story please?" asked Kagome getting up. Grandpa nodded, not moving his eyes. Kagome rolled her own before charging past the stairs and to the kitchen. Mihaku didn't stop.
"Damnit all!" Inuyasha swore loudly, digging dirt out of his mouth. Shippo continued to laugh insanely. "Stop laughing kit, before I break you in half," he threatened. Shippo stopped but grinned broadly.
"I can smell her! She's here Inuyasha!" Shippo chirped. Inuyasha hid his joy, though Shippo already knew it was there. Since Inuyasha was human and it was just after dark, he couldn't smell a damn thing.
"Kagome darling, would you let Buyo out please?" asked Mrs. Higurashi as she came down the stairs. Kagome leaned backward from the sink and smiled.
"Sure mom," she replied and moved for the dish towel to dry her hands. Souta scowled back at her when she took it and she stuck her tongue out lovingly.
"We're never gonna finish," he moaned bored as she headed to the back door.
"BUYO!" kagome yelled at normal voice level up the stairs. Mihaku was sleeping and she didn't want to wake him up. She watched the roof of the stair case for the cat, whilst her son went unnoticed out the back door on wobbly toddler feet. The cat came pounding down the stairs and up to Kagome's leg where he precedded to purr vigourously. "C'mon, out you go. No food, out," she ordered and pushed the cat out as she closed the door. Buyo, relunctantly enough, was shoved into Mihaku, catapulting the little boy four feet from the porch and landing him on his face. Buyo meowed pointedly and approached the child in a lazy gate of a chronic sleeper. Mihaku, however, began to whine fiercely.
"Fuck, it looks like everyone's downstairs! Should we try the back door?" asked Shippo. Inuyasha cracked him over the head.
"Watch your language," he said. "I don't want Kaogme to hear your fucking mouth!" Shippo got in Inuyasha's human face and growled. Inuyasha growled back. Suddenly both felt a pressure on their leg facing the house and froze as quickly as if a corspe had reached up to grab them. Mihaku had made it all the way out into the woods, whimpering like a hurt puppy, followed by Buyo the protector, and was now clinging to the puffy pant leg of Inuyasha's red haori while the cat rubbed against Shippo purring. Mihaku sobbed and hiccupped at the same time. "D'ya-d'ya hear that?" Inuyasha asked half terrified.
"Y-yah," nodded Shippo.
"On the count of three," Inuyasha gulped, fearful of what had grabbed them. "THREE!" he yelled and swung his fist back. Buyo got knocked a couple yards away by the over excited Shippo, but the experienced Inuyasha had stopped two feet short of Mihaku's head. The child now wailed hysterically. "Huh? A kid?"
"A little kid," said Shippo crouching down. He'd dealt with tiny children before and knew exactly what would make the little boy smile. He made two or three faces with his demon fangs and Mihaku wailed louder. "Stop! STOP!" moaned Shippo as he reached out to pick the kid up. Inuyasha watched with humor the grown kitsune holding his ears with one hand and reaching for a squalling baby with the other. But Shippo's hand never reached Mihaku. It stopped just short of him, five inches. Shippo gawked in amazement. He reached again and felt the same exact shock from before. Every time he tried to touch the kid he was being severely electricuted by some energy. He pulled his hand back in a painful scoop, holding the synged limb to his chest. "OOOOUUUUCCCCHHH!" he cried, for one than one boo-boo. Inuyasha shook his head in disgust and bent to pick the kid up. "NO! Inuyasha don't!" shrieked Shippo. He paused where he stood. Inuyasha was holding the baby in his arms. "WHAT?" he screamed.
"SHHHH!" snapped Inuyasha, casting a look at the house.
Kagome stopped washing the dishes and turned off the water in the sink. "Did you hear that?" she asked Souta. He looked at her confused and kept on with his dishes. "Huh, musta been the wind," she shrugged and turned the hot water back on.
Outside Inuyasha sighed with relief.
"What do you think you're doing? Trying to get her to come out here with arrows flying?"
"No, but how can you touch the kid and I can't?" asked Shippo in a hurt voice. Inuyasha looked at the laughing toddler in his arms and then back to Shippo.
"I dunno, maybe it's cause I'm human?" Mihaku bounced happily in Inuyasha's arms as though he were a trampoline.
"But that would mean a spell, right?" Mihaku reached up to Inuyasha's black hair and began to pull on it gently. Inuyasha knocked his hand away gently.
"Yeah, but how many people in the modern day can cast a spell?" retorted Inuyasha.
"Kagome," Shippo stated bluntly as Mihaku latched onto a lock of Inuyasha's hair and began to yank vivaciously. Shippo's hand began to tingle with new pain and he took a step back from the child and Inuyasha. "And it was strong too, nearly melted my hand. Can't imagine what it woulda done if I'd touched him!" he whimpered. Mihaku attempted to stand on the obstinate demon's arm, holding on for dear life to the handful of hair he continued to pull. Inuyasha winced painfully as he fought down the child's attempts gently.
"You think Kagome put a spell on him?" he asked, prying the child away and dangling him away from him by the foot.
"Well he is in Kagome's yard, she is the only one that can cast a spell in this era and have it work so efficiently that she can trust a child's protection on it, AND--" Inuyasha turned his head down suddenly, spotting the necklace drapped around Mihaku's neck as the boy giggled happily.
"Hey, what're these beads little guy?" asked Inuyasha, fiddling with the necklace distractedly. Shippo frowned and then planted a big throbbing attack on Inuyasha's head. "OWWW! What was that for?" yelled Inuyasha as he re-gripped the hand holding Mihaku's ankle. The little boy shot downward and then backup in the course of the attack, unknowingly coming close enough to cracking open his skull.
"You were interrupting me!"
"So???"
"*sigh* I guess you're right," he surrendered. "But those beads look familiar...he...looks familiar Inuyasha," Shippo added slowly. Inuyasha's face went serious as they gazed at the upside down toddler. Inuyasha righted the child and held him to his chest to stop his squirming.
"They're my prayer beads...Kagome took them with her...why did she give them to this little brat?" he asked through gritted and confused teeth.
"PA!" shouted Mihaku proudly. Inuyasha's frown faded and a grin seeped into his features.
"Inuyasha, do you not notice the likeness between you? You both have black hair, his eyes look like yours--"
"But other than that there is nothing in common," Inuyasha lied, snapping before that thought could carry any further. He could feel something warm about holding this baby in his arms that he'd never felt holding Kagome or Shippo. It was a protective, loving feeling. Maybe Shippo was on to something, but he wasn't about to think that... "but half the people in japan have black hair and hazel eyes!" he yelled, more to convince himself. "It's just a coincidence that I look like him tonight," he added haughtily and to squash future thought on the subject. He had Kagome to look forward to. Absently Inuyasha looked up to Kagome's window, quickly followed by Shippo. The light went on.
"PA!" yelped Mihaku and Kagome's windows exploded open. A beautiful raven haired girl with fire in her eyes leaned out the window and focused her eyes directly on the trio.
"Youkai!" she snarled and leapt from the second story window. Inuyasha made a mad dash, as if to help her, but was stopped dead when she landed lightly on her feet. "Get your hands off of him!" she growled. She didn't have time to think how the demons got into her room, or how that one could touch Mihaku with the spell in place, all she cared about was that they had him.
"Kagome," murmured Inuyasha.
"I said drop him, Demon! Or die!" growled Kagome as she slowly got closer. The intensity of her eyes was astonishing, boiling pit where calm lakes used to be. This wasn't the Kagome he remembered, and this Kagome did not need to be in charge of such a young child, especially not one he felt this oddly about.
"I-I think something's wrong with her," offered Shippo. Just at that moment Kagome lunged. Pink sparks flew everywhere like lightning. Shippo leapt and dodged her attacks, watching human Inuyasha to assure his and the baby's safety. "Kagome! Stop! It's us!" wailed Shippo. Kagome whirled around in another flurry of attacks, chasing Inuyasha.
"Mihaku, I won't lose you," she swore silently.
"KAGOME!" shrilled Shippo, who now was simply fending off the side effects of Kagome's attacks at Inuyasha.
"Kagome! Oh no! MIHAKU!" screamed two more voices. Shippo looked to his side. A middle aged woman, a little boy, and an old man stood at the door of Kagome's house. It had to be her family.
"Calm down Kagome! You'll never get him back if you don't! Your anger is blinding you!" yelled the old man. Shippo looked to Kagome, who's aura pulsed violently, not listening.
"You bastard! I'll kill you for touching MY son!" cursed Kagome venomously. Inuyasha froze instantly. Her son?? But then, who was the father? It'd been too long for it to have been him? He barely even felt the child curl into his arms.
"YOUR kid? Bitch, who the fuck have you sleeping with?" snarled Inuyasha. Kagome stopped her attack and stared dumbfounded at the black haired man before her.
"Papa!" chirped Mihaku, clapping his hands joyously. He'd never had that much fun. Shippo stood on his guard while Kagome's family seemed to be ready to shield themselves if needed. Inuyasha stared directly back at Kagome's confused eyes with enraged jealousy.
"Mi-Mihaku, your first word..." she whispered, staring deeply at Inuyasha. Something wasn't making sense, something wasn't clicking. That person, that person holding her son... "Inu-yasha?" she gasped and his eyes softened deeply. Shippo stood up straight and smiled. Finally, some sense was being beaten into her. "INUYASHA!" cried Kagome as she raced forward into the demon's arms. Inuyasha held the child away from him, to protect him from the assault, but she impacted him so forcefully that once she hit him, Mihaku was thrown away. Inuyasha ignored the flying child, he had his Kagome back and in his arms! But Shippo was already on the move. He snatched the child out of thin air and held him tightly. Inuyasha sighed and hugged Kagome fiercely.
"Oh Inuyasha, you're alive! You're alive!" sobbed a heartbroken Kagome into her husband's haori.
"AHHHH!" screamed Shippo and then suddenly he dropped Mihaku, his hands melting in a bright red flame. Kagome and Inuyasha looked over to the sight, seeing Shippo writhing with pain and Mihaku whimpering painfully.
"Oh my god!" Kagome shrieked. As she and Inuyasha dashed forward to the two, her family came running off the porch. Mrs. Higurashi was tempted to lift Mihaku instantly and hold him safely behind her father and son, but she knew when the beads were on the boy he was dangerous. Kagome was knealing immediately, watching in horror the effects of her spell.
"Shippo, god! What happened?" yelled Inuyasha desperately.
"Shippo?" sqeaked Kagome, looking to Inuyasha who only nodded.
"I- ah- I caught the baby and-- AHHHH!" he moaned. Kagome had heard enough.
"Stay still, Shippo, and don't look at it. I'm going to make you better, I promise!" she instructed.
"Kagome, what're you do-" started Inuyasha.
"I'm healing him before it gets to bad," she replied. Quietly she placed her hands over the melting forms of Shippo's and closed her eyes. Inuyasha looked to her family and then noticed the child still crying on the ground. Knowing he could touch the baby without it hurting him like it did Shippo, Inuyasha bent and picked the baby up into his arms.
Shippo cringed slightly as Kagome worked her magic. A few seconds later Kagome sighed heavily. The pink glow that had eminated around her now surrounded her dear Shippo and closed up his wounds, giving him renewed skin. Shippo blinked repeatedly, staring at his arms in awe.
"Wh-WOW!" he wailed. "That was amazing Mom!" he laughed and moved all ten fingers excitedly. Kagome looked at him utterly confounded.
"Mom?" she asked and then, "Why do you look so different? How are you two here? I thought you couldn't use the well Shippo?" Inuyasha chuckled and Shippo beamed happily. There was a long night ahead of them all and Mrs. Higurashi could sense it. Without so much as an exasperated sigh she went back into the house and headed to make hot chocolate for them all. Knowing Kagome and Souta didn't drink coffee and Shippo and Inuyasha probably didn't even know what coffee was she determined that hot chocolate would be more worth her efforts.
However, the young lady of time did not leave the realm alone. She took with her a token of her lover's undying affection in the form of a hanyou child hidden unknowingly in her womb before her departure. The legend says nothing more of the young lady of time, but details the death of it's once and future protector, the disappearance of the jewel, and the long lives of it's vialant guardians.
Kagome yawned and stretched. She hadn't had a night's sleep like that in years, but then again she hadn't had such a demanding night as her last one. She had emotionally dealt with saying goodbye to all she'd come accustomed to, she made love with her favorite hanyou, and had to physical prepare for the feast and to say goodbye. Her farwell to Sango and Miroku was especially heart wrenching because she knew they were to be wed and she painfully wished she could be there. Kagome shook her head. She'd cried herself to sleep last night and that should've taken away all the hurt. Little did she know...
"Kagome! Breakfast!" bellowed the loving voice of her mother.
"Com-" Kagome started when suddenly the urge to throw up caught her by the throat. In a mad dash to make it to safe dispatching Kagome ran down the hall to the bathroom and puked her guts out. A scarey thought loomed in her head. Can you get morning sick this early after? she thought seriously.
"Kagome? Kagome are you alright?" wailed her mother, now finding her bent over the toilet in release stance. Kagome nodded and got up with a smile.
"Fine," she replied earnestly. It's probably just some of that meat Koga brought for the party last night. Inuyasha did say it smelled like dying fungus. Kagome was able to truly laugh at the thought and in return ease her mother's worries.
"Good. When I heard the noises you were making it worried me dear. Grandfather says he wants to speak you as soon as you finish your pancakes," her mother informed as they made their way downstairs. Kagome looked over and half nodded her acknowledgments. He'd better not want me to become a full time Miko for him...not after all that happened in the Sengoku Jedai...I'm not strong enough to fend off demons like Kikyo encountered. Kagome smirked at the name in her head. Kikyo...Inuyasha had finally choosen Kagome once and for all over the undead miko and Kagome could safely say she felt smug over it.
"Hey sis, long night?" asked Souta as the two came into the kitchen. He was sitting at the table in his pajamas with a full stack of pancakes before him. The look of worry on his face told her that he had heard her crying through the wall. She nodded and threw in a smile for good measure.
"A very long night. But everything's finally calming down," she grinned, "you can start eating now," she added, noticing that he wasn't going to touch his food until his older sister sat down at her plate. Her mother giggled at the display of sibling affection and Souta turned bright red.
"Baka!" he managed to say before burying himself in pancakes. Kagome had two stakes with butter and extra syrup, orange juice and eight pieces of bacon. Her mother looked at her with genuine wonderment.
Kagome finished up breakfast and went to put on her clothes. A pink sweater and a dark blue skirt would do nicely for the cool August air and as a final touch she placed Inuyasha's prayer beads on. She had taken them off of him and gripped them firmly when he went to shatter them last night. She begged him, with all her heart, to let her keep them as a reminder...and maybe they would help her verify his soul one day. As Kagome finally made her way out to the shrine entrance she found herself taking the long way, passing by the God Tree and the Bone Eater's Well. It's only natural to miss them, she assured herself internally, especially Inuyasha after last night. She gently placed a hand on the God Tree and stared absently into the branches. The wind brushed her hair over her cheeks and ruffled her skirt up the same way Inuyasha had when he stuck his hand up her skirt on their return to the party after their late night escapade. Inuyasha...
"Hey you, get away from there!" snarled her grandfather and Kagome looked over dully. She wasn't interested in whatever it was he had to say. Inuyasha's tree couldn't hurt her and would in no way hurt her by casting a spell on her, Inuyasha's spirit wouldn't allow it.
"Why?" she asked anyway, not moving her hand.
"Because! I need to talk to you!" he answered and pulled her away. Kagome boredly followed, letting her grandpa pull her through the shrine and into the back closet. A momentary fear took her over at the thought of being somewhere scarey without her friends but vanished upon the production of an old book. Her grandfather opened it saying: "when you first fell down the well I didn't think to look at this book of true legends and I didn't remember the legend at all until you told me what happened and I saw Inuyasha for the first time." Kagome visibly cringed at the name. "But here, look see! You are the young lady of time, the miko Kagome."
"I know that Grandpa," Kagome retorted monotonously. Her grandpa looked at her miffled.
"No! Look, there is a very old legend about you. I would've shown it to you sooner but there was information in here that could've changed the course of time," he explained. Kagome read the passage and nearly fainted. All of it, her entire story and Inuyasha's was documented in this book.
"GRANDPA! WHERE DID YOU GET THIS!" demanded Kagome. Her grandfather gave her a calming look.
"It's a very old and very popular book of True Legends my dear. You'll be studying it in high school next semester," he explained.
"So everyone already knows about the well???"
"No, that's the legend that this shrine is based on because of the jewel. But I didn't remember anything about the Kagome girl falling down the well. It's probably because when my father owned this shrine he passed down the story onto me and well, I was young and neglected my books. But now I know...You know how people come here thinking that it's all a legend? Well that's what they think of the Young Lady of Time as well," he beamed. Kagome awed.
"So they all know about me but not really?" she questioned. He nodded as he inspected the passage. "Wow...and what's that last part say? I didn't get past the word Koga," she replied, leaning over the book.
"Hmm," grunted her grandpa.
"What?" He pointed to the very last of the passage and Kagome read it.
"I don't remember that part ever being there," he said curiously. Kagome chuckled nervously and sat back on her haunches.
"Grandpa...what if I told you that....um, well..."
"This couldn't be true, for that to happen you and Inuyasha would have had to have sex," he spoke to himself, completely ignoring his granddaughter's efforts to admit. She flushed bright purple at her grandfather's voicing of it and thought she was going to be sick again.
"Well grandpa, that's what I was trying to tell you...I...um...I think I'm pregnant!" she cried in a shriek and ducked as though she expected to be hit.
"WHAT?" he screamed and all the birds in the nearby trees scattered. Kagome nodded.
"I think I got morning sickness a few hours ago," she whimpered. Her grandfather calmed down and shook his head.
"No, you exhausted yourself last night and ate some under cooked meat. You couldn't be showing signs this early. But mind you they will be coming soon..." he growled, almost tolerantly.
"I guess your right. Since we only.....did....it last night," she tried but talking to her grandfather about her and Inuyasha having sex was too embarrassing, even if he knew about it, and she found herself blushing from her hair to her toes.
"Well then...that explains the part about you not leaving that time alone and the unknowing part...But what's this about the death of the once and future protector. I thought you were the protector and it already said that no more was mentioned of you in the legend." Kagome thought for a second and the smug grin returned.
"They mean Kikyo. Kikyo dies. The once and future protector because I'm her reincarnation and I protected it."
"Well, what's this about the disappearance of the jewel, you think? Don't you have it?"
"No," Kagome replied firmly. "I gave it to Inuyasha before I left."
"In exchange for those!" he yelled, pointing to Inuyasha's spell beads hanging around Kagome's neck. Kagome's hand went to them instantly in defense mode.
"No! And don't you talk about them like that!" she snarled. Her grandpa's face went pinkish and he nodded. No one really enjoyed arguing with a truly angry Kagome in any time period.
"They would've only disappeared if he made a wish on it,"her grandfather explained. Kagome sighed tiredly and got up.
"That means nothing good to me..."she replied solemnly and left. Her grandpa watched after her sadly. Kagome had a very hard time ahead of her, and she wasn't even finished with the one she was having.
March.......2 yrs later
Kagome wiped the sweat off her forehead and spiked the ball again. She had gotten very good at sports after her beautiful baby baby boy was born. She named him Mihaku, after Kohaku and Miroku (a tribute to her friends) and he was now ten months old. She was still in school and her mother played a very big role in watching the baby while she was there. Souta baby sat sometimes when on the extremely RARE occassion Kagome would leave Mihaku and her friends visited constantly, wanting to play with the baby and invite both mother and child out for dinner. This surprised her because Mihaku had been born with claws like Inuyasha and stark white hair just like Inuyasha's, and even his eyes were a very pale brown version of his father's. She wondered if they could even notice the hanyou in the sweet tiny angel. But it didn't bother her long. Kagome was too busy fending very nicely for herself. She became stronger in both her miko powers and physical abilities, not wanting to slack off in case her Mihaku was attacked. Another thing she did not slack on...wearing Inuyasha's beads around her neck. Her friends had asked about those too, but Kagome would not reply with an answer any of them could understand.
"Hey Kag!" screamed a warning from Eri across the field. Kagome looked up in time to see the ball dropping toward her and punted it just over the fence to win another point.
"YEAH! WE WON!" shouted her side. Eri, who had sent the pass over and was afraid it would hit her friend, frowned. She was on the losing side because of her love for her friend. Kagome grinned broadly and draped an arm over Eri's shoulder.
"Thanks Eri," she said earnestly and both girls laughed their way inside. Kagome got dressed quickly and checked herself in the mirror as the others were finishing up. She wore her hair up in a ponytail almost all the time now, it was just easier and Mihaku couldn't grab it that way. Also she had gotten it trimmed a couple inches so it was a little bit shorter and out of reach of the ten months' hands. She adjusted the prayer beads a little bit, allowing her sorrow to play openly on her face. She had never missed her beloved more than when she looked at Mihaku. He would've loved to be with Mihaku, to show him what it was like to have a father.
"Kagome stop that, we've got to go and get Mihaku," Yuki smiled. Kagome grinned. Leave it to her friends to remind her she was still happy despite the absence of her only love.
"I'll race ya!" Kagome piped.
"No! You always win, that's not fair!" Yuki and Eri moaned. Kagome laughed.
"Okay, okay," she agreed and they walked out of the school toward the Higurashi shrine and Kagome's home. They picked up the beautiful baby boy and walked down the stairs laughing and poking fun at him until suddenly Kagome froze.
"What is it?" asked Eri nervously.
"Youkai," Kagome replied and then shrugged it off. She had sensed youkai two or three times in the past and instead of hunting them down let it pass. That was what she intended to do this time, especially since she had Mihaku with her. Eri and Yuki passed each other creeped out looks. They were beginning to get used to this, after everything that Kagome had sensed since she got well they should've thought it was old news. But it never gets old to hear a teenager with an odd though attractive baby say "i'm sensing a demon". As they walked down the street Yuki ran ahead to get smoothies. She and Eri finished their's first and then Kagome handed Mihaku to Eri so she could drink hers. Mihaku protested.
"Ow! Kagome!" Eri whined.
"Mihaku! Claws! Stop that squirming before you really hurt Eri," she scolded and the baby relunctantly ceased. Eri's arm was scratched no more than a cat scratch but it was a wound she was used to receiving. At least he would stop now when told. Mihaku made a whimpering noise remarkably close to a puppy's and Yuki choked. Kagome beamed happily and petted the baby's head.
"It's okay sweetheart, mommy's right here. She's not going to leave you," she assured and Mihaku jerked his head up into her hand.
"It's amazing how much he acts like a dog Kagome, really," Yuki said in astonishment. Eri and Kagome laughed.
"Yeah....it is isn't it," Kagome replied. She had never seen Inuyasha act like this or show his leniage more than sniffing the ground (which Mihaku had yet to do). But then again she never saw Inuyasha when he was THIS small and it could very well be normal, happy hanyou behavior. As they were crossing the street Kagome rushed ahead to hold the door for a lady with several bags and left Yuki and Eri with Mihaku. Just as she was bowing politely in response to the lady's thanks, Kagome heard a car horn blare.
*BEEP*BEEP*
Kagome screamed and Yuki and Eri wailed in fear at the small oncoming car. They had no time to dodge! Eri turned her back to the impact and was suddenly tossed away with Yuki as the car's hood collided with human flesh. One body went flying four feet away from where the accident had happened, but it didn't belong to either of the girls. Kagome raced over to her friends and child to assure their safety. She caressed Mihaku's sweaty forehead softly before she felt the blood beginning to pound in her ears.
"Oh my god mister! Are you okay?" wailed the ridiculously flamboiant driver of Mihaku's near murder. Kagome turned fiercely, not hearing the calls of her friends, and stormed toward the driver. She didn't care about the person who had shoved her friends and son out of the way, she didn't notice their desperate calls or the voice of the man who had helped them, all she knew was that she was going to hurt this man who nearly hurt her son.
"You!" she snarled. "You nearly killed him! I'll slaughter you!" she bellowed.
"KAGOME!" screamed Yuki and rushed forward trying to hold back the very powerful Kagome. Miko energy radiated off of Kagome and Yuki found it very painful to touch Kagome but she didn't give up. Kagome was not the typical mother when it came to protection. She was violently protective of her son and Yuki knew if she let go then the man would die.
"I'll kill you!" Kagome cried. Tears were surfacing at the lids of her eyes and she was fighting harder to get back at him.
"C'mon! It's okay! Stop! Mihaku is safe!" Yuki cried and gripped the prayer beads around Kagome's neck. Kagome stopped instantly and looked at Yuki. "Please, don't hurt him, we're fine..." she pleaded. Kagome looked from her friend to the cowering man in front of her and then to her beloved Mihaku who was crying soundlessly in Eri's arms.
"Let go of the beads," Kagome murmured. "I wanna go home," she added and started off. Eri quickly chased after. Yuki looked back at the gentleman who had saved her and her friends and passed him a pathetic look. She wanted to thank the pale burnette for his help, she wanted to know why he was still alive and moving after being hit like that, and she wanted to explain Kagome's actions but she couldn't manage a word before she heard.
"Yuki," from Eri. Mihaku waved for her with his little clawed hand over Kagome's shoulder. She had obviously comfiscated her son. Yuki ran toward the others and catch up quickly.
"Shippo! Shippo are you okay?" demanded a firm and very familiar voice. Shippo nodded. He felt like he was in a daze. Was that Kagome? She looked different...and definately more violent.
"I'm- I'm fine Inuyasha," Shippo replied as he stood up. Inuyasha sighed and held him up with one arm.
"What the hell got into you?" he cursed, and then to the driver of the car. "You can leave now. We're not going to get you arrested. But be the fuck more careful!" Inuyasha scolded. Shippo looked at him and then back toward where Kagome had been.
"I saw these two women and a baby, in the road. The baby was hanyou, Inuyasha," Shippo explained. Inuyasha looked at him shocked.
"Seriously? It's not everyday we encounter a hanyou. They're pretty rare nowadays," he replied thoughtfully.
"That's not the weird part Inuyasha. That girl called the other one Kagome!" he said. Inuyasha came back to reality instantly.
"Really? Shit! You think it's time? Do you think we can go to her now?" Shippo grinned at Inuaysha's excitement and nodded.
"Could be...I hope so, I can't wait to see her..."
"We've waited this long we can wait a little longer, take our time. We'll go to her tonight. Do NOT go to her without me, she won't recognize you," Inuyasha instructed as they started to walk away from the accident. Neither noticed the crowd that had gathered or the dumbfounded expression on the killer driver's face.
"Oh yeah, and like she'd recognize you, Dog Turd," Shippo retorted before both leapt to the tops of the four story building on their left. The crowd awed and gasped as the two demons disappeared, unphased by the behavior of their audience.
Kagome walked into her room with Mihaku grasped tightly in her arms. "I almost lost you, I almost lost you just like Inuyasha!" she suddenly wailed and dropped to her knees in the middle of her floor. Tears streamed down her face and sobs wracked her body fiercely. Kagome had never been so terrified in her life. She wanted to murder, to kill...was this how Inuyasha felt when someone tried to hurt her? Now his moody behavior all made sense! Mihaku whimpered sadly and pawed at his mother's face. She gazed down at him with watery eyes before placing a lengthy kiss on his forehead. "Don't worry sweetie, it's alright," she assured, trying to convince herself. Quietly she walked over to his crib near the window and laid him down on his back.
"PA" he sputtered. The closeness of the word to 'papa' made Kagome cringe. How she missed her lover, her mate...she sighed heavily and removed Inuyasha's prayer beads.
"Maaaa," she said, forcing a smile as she bent over the crib wall to put the beads around his neck. "But your Pa will protect you tonight. Mommy needs some sleep," she whispered and silently cast a protection spell on the necklace. As long a it was on him, no demon with any blood other than Inuyasha's could touch him. She had come up with that little charm the night he was born. She used another spell from the book her grandfather had showed her the day she came back for good and simply altered it to her needs. That book now sat open on a shelf above her headboard. Occassionally she'd check it, to make sure nothing had changed, but it never did.
"Goodnight Mihaku," Mrs. Higurashi cooed calmly from the doorway. Kagome looked back and smiled warmly.
"Sleep tight, love, don't let the bed bugs bite," she whispered and then walked toward her mother. Not looking back she turned the light off and cracked the bedroom door. Just like his father, Mihaku preferred moonlight, even though the sun was just now setting.
"Mom, do you mind if I sleep with you tonight?" Kagome groaned pitifully. Her mother laughed lightly and wrapped her arms around her.
"Sure," she nodded.
Mihaku sat up in his crib and gazed straight up, out the large bedroom window. Kagome always left the curtains open, what if Inuyasha came to check up on them? He wouldn't be able to see if they were closed.
"PA!" he squealed, patting the beads on his stomach playfully. He still wasn't sleepy. He sensed something, something familiar and similar. "PA!" he uttered again, but this time it came out more of a call than an attempt at speaking.
Shippo leapt from branch to branch happily. It'd been more than 500 years since he'd seen Kagome and finally he could see her again! It was partially because of the balance of space and time, and partially Inuyasha. Kaede had told Inuyasha when he made his wish on the shikon jewel that if he planned to hunt Kagome out in the future, to wait until she had left the well for good. Otherwise time wouldn't be balanced and his being would collaspe and die. Shippo got the same lecture from Inuyasha when he decided to join the hanyou in waiting for Kagome. He had made the, then Kit, promise not to even spy on Kagome's house until it was time. The only problem, neither of them knew the right time! Shippo had given Inuyasha repeated lumps to the head for that one, but Inuyasha was a full demon now and Kagome wasn't around to help the kit. Shippo learned the hard way growing up, that father figures like Inuyasha will play with mother figure Kagome is away. He laughed at the pun in his head. He knew Inuyasha was a lot more protective of him now. He had shared a lot with Shippo that Miroku and Sango didn't even find out in the 50 years that passed between Kagome's depature and the two's nature deaths. Shippo had learned that Kagome and Inuyasha were mated. He learned that when Inuyasha made his wish on the Shikon no Tama he was very specific in wanting to keep his hanyou heart, so that he could still love Kagome once he saw her, AND he found out that Inuyasha murdered Kikyo in cold blood for the mere insulting of Kagome once she was gone. That was during Inuyasha's depression period. He hid from the group for a year, sulking in the mountains, until the idea finally hit him to live until he could die with Kagome. Once Sango and Miroku began popping out kids and Kaede died, Shippo had turned to Inuyasha. He always saw Inuyasha and Kagome as foster parents, but now, after all they'd been through, they were as good as the real thing to him. Inuyasha adopted him when the others died and it was just them left. He also told Shippo that Kagome was now his mother, just like he was his father, and he'd better not make a pass at her when he got older. Shippo had gagged at the thought then, but realized Inuyasha was only making a point now.
"Oi Shippo slow it down already. If she's not home we'll come back!" yelled Inuyasha aggitated, but the look on his face said, I wanna get there first.
"C'mon! I'll race ya!" he laughed. Inuyasha's eye brow raised at the thought. Hmm, race a full grown kitsune against a now grown demon? Hell yes!
"You're gonna wish you were never born!" he laughed and plunged ahead.
Mihaku cooed again and patted fiercely at the beads around his neck.
"PA! PA! PApffft," he chirped happily, ending up in spit. Rotating on his butt he looked at the crib latch that Kagome had repeatedly patched to keep him inside. The urge to escape was great fun and carefully he lifted himself and swung his clawed hand at the tape. It snapped in an instant and the crib wall came crashing down.
Souta dropped a pot in the kitchen while helping Kagome wash dishes and she scowled. "Be careful Souta! You'll wake Mihaku!" she scolded. Souta blushed and mocked his sister behind her back. It wasn't that loud, he thought.
Fearlessly Mihaku took a baby step toward the edge of the crib. The sun had set completely now, leaving darkness in the room other than the light from the hall way door Kagome had left open. Still, there was no moon. Mihaku crashed to the bedroom floor, his hair full black, claws missing, and eyes a dark brown. He was human for the night.
Outside Inuyasha leapt from a huge branch and into the air with a smirk. He was looking back tauntinly at Shippo when suddenly he crashed to the earth below his target. Shippo paused on the tree limb he had last hit and laughed hysterically. It was the night of the full moon and Inuyasha was human. One of the draw backs of keeping your hanyou heart, you keep a hanyou cycle!
Unphased by the fall Mihaku had just taken he looked up with innocent eyes. Cooing brightly as he got to his feet, he wobbled toward the door.
Mrs. Higurashi hummed quietly to herself in her bedroom. She was making the bed so that Kagome could sleep on fresh sheets and was right in the middle of fluffing a pillow when she heard a soft, dull thud. Mihaku tripped on the carpet and was reduced to all fours near the edge of the hallway. Mrs. Higurashi paused in her ministrations for a moment to listen. When she heard nothing else she continued on while Mihaku crawled soundlessly past the open door and toward the stairs on all fours, his black hair hiding the majority of the rest of his body.
"Kagome!" Souta shouted, followed by a quick chorus of "shhhh" from Grandpa and Kagome in the livingroom. "You were supposed to wash the dishes and I dry remember??" he whispered vehmently. Mihaku made his way slowly down the stairs, watching every move carefully. He might be very young, but falling down stairs on your first day of crawling isn't something you forget. He didn't dare try walking down them, his legs were too short.
"I am, Souta, stop complaining. I'm watching the news for class. Gimme a minute alright?" Kagome groaned. Mihaku slumped down another stair.
"Sure you are," Souta replied loudly as he turned on his heel and headed toward the kitchen again, wringing his hands angrily.
"Augh, Grandpa, would you tell me what happens with this foreign weapons story please?" asked Kagome getting up. Grandpa nodded, not moving his eyes. Kagome rolled her own before charging past the stairs and to the kitchen. Mihaku didn't stop.
"Damnit all!" Inuyasha swore loudly, digging dirt out of his mouth. Shippo continued to laugh insanely. "Stop laughing kit, before I break you in half," he threatened. Shippo stopped but grinned broadly.
"I can smell her! She's here Inuyasha!" Shippo chirped. Inuyasha hid his joy, though Shippo already knew it was there. Since Inuyasha was human and it was just after dark, he couldn't smell a damn thing.
"Kagome darling, would you let Buyo out please?" asked Mrs. Higurashi as she came down the stairs. Kagome leaned backward from the sink and smiled.
"Sure mom," she replied and moved for the dish towel to dry her hands. Souta scowled back at her when she took it and she stuck her tongue out lovingly.
"We're never gonna finish," he moaned bored as she headed to the back door.
"BUYO!" kagome yelled at normal voice level up the stairs. Mihaku was sleeping and she didn't want to wake him up. She watched the roof of the stair case for the cat, whilst her son went unnoticed out the back door on wobbly toddler feet. The cat came pounding down the stairs and up to Kagome's leg where he precedded to purr vigourously. "C'mon, out you go. No food, out," she ordered and pushed the cat out as she closed the door. Buyo, relunctantly enough, was shoved into Mihaku, catapulting the little boy four feet from the porch and landing him on his face. Buyo meowed pointedly and approached the child in a lazy gate of a chronic sleeper. Mihaku, however, began to whine fiercely.
"Fuck, it looks like everyone's downstairs! Should we try the back door?" asked Shippo. Inuyasha cracked him over the head.
"Watch your language," he said. "I don't want Kaogme to hear your fucking mouth!" Shippo got in Inuyasha's human face and growled. Inuyasha growled back. Suddenly both felt a pressure on their leg facing the house and froze as quickly as if a corspe had reached up to grab them. Mihaku had made it all the way out into the woods, whimpering like a hurt puppy, followed by Buyo the protector, and was now clinging to the puffy pant leg of Inuyasha's red haori while the cat rubbed against Shippo purring. Mihaku sobbed and hiccupped at the same time. "D'ya-d'ya hear that?" Inuyasha asked half terrified.
"Y-yah," nodded Shippo.
"On the count of three," Inuyasha gulped, fearful of what had grabbed them. "THREE!" he yelled and swung his fist back. Buyo got knocked a couple yards away by the over excited Shippo, but the experienced Inuyasha had stopped two feet short of Mihaku's head. The child now wailed hysterically. "Huh? A kid?"
"A little kid," said Shippo crouching down. He'd dealt with tiny children before and knew exactly what would make the little boy smile. He made two or three faces with his demon fangs and Mihaku wailed louder. "Stop! STOP!" moaned Shippo as he reached out to pick the kid up. Inuyasha watched with humor the grown kitsune holding his ears with one hand and reaching for a squalling baby with the other. But Shippo's hand never reached Mihaku. It stopped just short of him, five inches. Shippo gawked in amazement. He reached again and felt the same exact shock from before. Every time he tried to touch the kid he was being severely electricuted by some energy. He pulled his hand back in a painful scoop, holding the synged limb to his chest. "OOOOUUUUCCCCHHH!" he cried, for one than one boo-boo. Inuyasha shook his head in disgust and bent to pick the kid up. "NO! Inuyasha don't!" shrieked Shippo. He paused where he stood. Inuyasha was holding the baby in his arms. "WHAT?" he screamed.
"SHHHH!" snapped Inuyasha, casting a look at the house.
Kagome stopped washing the dishes and turned off the water in the sink. "Did you hear that?" she asked Souta. He looked at her confused and kept on with his dishes. "Huh, musta been the wind," she shrugged and turned the hot water back on.
Outside Inuyasha sighed with relief.
"What do you think you're doing? Trying to get her to come out here with arrows flying?"
"No, but how can you touch the kid and I can't?" asked Shippo in a hurt voice. Inuyasha looked at the laughing toddler in his arms and then back to Shippo.
"I dunno, maybe it's cause I'm human?" Mihaku bounced happily in Inuyasha's arms as though he were a trampoline.
"But that would mean a spell, right?" Mihaku reached up to Inuyasha's black hair and began to pull on it gently. Inuyasha knocked his hand away gently.
"Yeah, but how many people in the modern day can cast a spell?" retorted Inuyasha.
"Kagome," Shippo stated bluntly as Mihaku latched onto a lock of Inuyasha's hair and began to yank vivaciously. Shippo's hand began to tingle with new pain and he took a step back from the child and Inuyasha. "And it was strong too, nearly melted my hand. Can't imagine what it woulda done if I'd touched him!" he whimpered. Mihaku attempted to stand on the obstinate demon's arm, holding on for dear life to the handful of hair he continued to pull. Inuyasha winced painfully as he fought down the child's attempts gently.
"You think Kagome put a spell on him?" he asked, prying the child away and dangling him away from him by the foot.
"Well he is in Kagome's yard, she is the only one that can cast a spell in this era and have it work so efficiently that she can trust a child's protection on it, AND--" Inuyasha turned his head down suddenly, spotting the necklace drapped around Mihaku's neck as the boy giggled happily.
"Hey, what're these beads little guy?" asked Inuyasha, fiddling with the necklace distractedly. Shippo frowned and then planted a big throbbing attack on Inuyasha's head. "OWWW! What was that for?" yelled Inuyasha as he re-gripped the hand holding Mihaku's ankle. The little boy shot downward and then backup in the course of the attack, unknowingly coming close enough to cracking open his skull.
"You were interrupting me!"
"So???"
"*sigh* I guess you're right," he surrendered. "But those beads look familiar...he...looks familiar Inuyasha," Shippo added slowly. Inuyasha's face went serious as they gazed at the upside down toddler. Inuyasha righted the child and held him to his chest to stop his squirming.
"They're my prayer beads...Kagome took them with her...why did she give them to this little brat?" he asked through gritted and confused teeth.
"PA!" shouted Mihaku proudly. Inuyasha's frown faded and a grin seeped into his features.
"Inuyasha, do you not notice the likeness between you? You both have black hair, his eyes look like yours--"
"But other than that there is nothing in common," Inuyasha lied, snapping before that thought could carry any further. He could feel something warm about holding this baby in his arms that he'd never felt holding Kagome or Shippo. It was a protective, loving feeling. Maybe Shippo was on to something, but he wasn't about to think that... "but half the people in japan have black hair and hazel eyes!" he yelled, more to convince himself. "It's just a coincidence that I look like him tonight," he added haughtily and to squash future thought on the subject. He had Kagome to look forward to. Absently Inuyasha looked up to Kagome's window, quickly followed by Shippo. The light went on.
"PA!" yelped Mihaku and Kagome's windows exploded open. A beautiful raven haired girl with fire in her eyes leaned out the window and focused her eyes directly on the trio.
"Youkai!" she snarled and leapt from the second story window. Inuyasha made a mad dash, as if to help her, but was stopped dead when she landed lightly on her feet. "Get your hands off of him!" she growled. She didn't have time to think how the demons got into her room, or how that one could touch Mihaku with the spell in place, all she cared about was that they had him.
"Kagome," murmured Inuyasha.
"I said drop him, Demon! Or die!" growled Kagome as she slowly got closer. The intensity of her eyes was astonishing, boiling pit where calm lakes used to be. This wasn't the Kagome he remembered, and this Kagome did not need to be in charge of such a young child, especially not one he felt this oddly about.
"I-I think something's wrong with her," offered Shippo. Just at that moment Kagome lunged. Pink sparks flew everywhere like lightning. Shippo leapt and dodged her attacks, watching human Inuyasha to assure his and the baby's safety. "Kagome! Stop! It's us!" wailed Shippo. Kagome whirled around in another flurry of attacks, chasing Inuyasha.
"Mihaku, I won't lose you," she swore silently.
"KAGOME!" shrilled Shippo, who now was simply fending off the side effects of Kagome's attacks at Inuyasha.
"Kagome! Oh no! MIHAKU!" screamed two more voices. Shippo looked to his side. A middle aged woman, a little boy, and an old man stood at the door of Kagome's house. It had to be her family.
"Calm down Kagome! You'll never get him back if you don't! Your anger is blinding you!" yelled the old man. Shippo looked to Kagome, who's aura pulsed violently, not listening.
"You bastard! I'll kill you for touching MY son!" cursed Kagome venomously. Inuyasha froze instantly. Her son?? But then, who was the father? It'd been too long for it to have been him? He barely even felt the child curl into his arms.
"YOUR kid? Bitch, who the fuck have you sleeping with?" snarled Inuyasha. Kagome stopped her attack and stared dumbfounded at the black haired man before her.
"Papa!" chirped Mihaku, clapping his hands joyously. He'd never had that much fun. Shippo stood on his guard while Kagome's family seemed to be ready to shield themselves if needed. Inuyasha stared directly back at Kagome's confused eyes with enraged jealousy.
"Mi-Mihaku, your first word..." she whispered, staring deeply at Inuyasha. Something wasn't making sense, something wasn't clicking. That person, that person holding her son... "Inu-yasha?" she gasped and his eyes softened deeply. Shippo stood up straight and smiled. Finally, some sense was being beaten into her. "INUYASHA!" cried Kagome as she raced forward into the demon's arms. Inuyasha held the child away from him, to protect him from the assault, but she impacted him so forcefully that once she hit him, Mihaku was thrown away. Inuyasha ignored the flying child, he had his Kagome back and in his arms! But Shippo was already on the move. He snatched the child out of thin air and held him tightly. Inuyasha sighed and hugged Kagome fiercely.
"Oh Inuyasha, you're alive! You're alive!" sobbed a heartbroken Kagome into her husband's haori.
"AHHHH!" screamed Shippo and then suddenly he dropped Mihaku, his hands melting in a bright red flame. Kagome and Inuyasha looked over to the sight, seeing Shippo writhing with pain and Mihaku whimpering painfully.
"Oh my god!" Kagome shrieked. As she and Inuyasha dashed forward to the two, her family came running off the porch. Mrs. Higurashi was tempted to lift Mihaku instantly and hold him safely behind her father and son, but she knew when the beads were on the boy he was dangerous. Kagome was knealing immediately, watching in horror the effects of her spell.
"Shippo, god! What happened?" yelled Inuyasha desperately.
"Shippo?" sqeaked Kagome, looking to Inuyasha who only nodded.
"I- ah- I caught the baby and-- AHHHH!" he moaned. Kagome had heard enough.
"Stay still, Shippo, and don't look at it. I'm going to make you better, I promise!" she instructed.
"Kagome, what're you do-" started Inuyasha.
"I'm healing him before it gets to bad," she replied. Quietly she placed her hands over the melting forms of Shippo's and closed her eyes. Inuyasha looked to her family and then noticed the child still crying on the ground. Knowing he could touch the baby without it hurting him like it did Shippo, Inuyasha bent and picked the baby up into his arms.
Shippo cringed slightly as Kagome worked her magic. A few seconds later Kagome sighed heavily. The pink glow that had eminated around her now surrounded her dear Shippo and closed up his wounds, giving him renewed skin. Shippo blinked repeatedly, staring at his arms in awe.
"Wh-WOW!" he wailed. "That was amazing Mom!" he laughed and moved all ten fingers excitedly. Kagome looked at him utterly confounded.
"Mom?" she asked and then, "Why do you look so different? How are you two here? I thought you couldn't use the well Shippo?" Inuyasha chuckled and Shippo beamed happily. There was a long night ahead of them all and Mrs. Higurashi could sense it. Without so much as an exasperated sigh she went back into the house and headed to make hot chocolate for them all. Knowing Kagome and Souta didn't drink coffee and Shippo and Inuyasha probably didn't even know what coffee was she determined that hot chocolate would be more worth her efforts.