Disclaimer- It's not mine. It never was. Everything except the plot belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.
A/N - This chapter is going to be a crossover chapter. It is absolutely vital in understanding the last few chapters, so pay close attention or you might miss something. Even though I would probably have written out at least four or five more chapters to present the information present in this chapter, I figured this story was getting too long as it was. So this is just a quick overview of what happened during the next month after the last chapter.
Hope you enjoy.
Later,
A.A.
Chapter 32
Over the next few weeks, Kagome continued to jump back and forth between the two eras, slowly beginning to spend more time in the Feudal Era, and consequently more time with the demon wolf pack. After she had explained to her family what would happen if she kept the jewel inside her during the pregnancy, they agreed that Kagome should give birth to the child in the past, then come home afterwards. Kagome had started to show now in her pregnancy, and as such, it had not been hard for her to decided to return to the Feudal Era until the pregnancy was over with, and her baby boy or girl was safely in the world.
After bidding her family good-bye for about three months, Kagome had moved most of the things she would need into Kaede's hut, where she had planned on living until the birth of her baby. The day she had come through the well the last time for a few months, Kouga had been waiting for her to aid in the next step of her journey. The removal of the jewel from her body.
Because the jewel had re-embedded itself into Kagome's body after Inuyasha had made the fateful wish that had brought back the innocent people killed during the shard hunt, Kagome had to get it out of her body in order to contain her powers within it. She had proposed the idea of Kouga using his claws to make a small incision on her side, then let her remove the jewel. The wolf prince had not liked the idea, but when Kagome said that the only other option was for her to return to her own time to have it surgically removed, the wolf had given in, not wanting to see Kagome go home so soon.
They had went to Kaede's hut and began the process of removing the jewel. Kagome had raised her shirt enough to expose the scar on her side where the jewel had originally come out of her upon her first descent into the well and the Feudal Age. Taking Kouga's hand, she had guided his fingers to right above where the jewel pulsated within her body. Kouga made a quick cut in the otherwise smooth skin and nearly panicked when Kagome's blood started to stain the white shirt she had been wearing. Kagome, although in pain from the incision, had quickly grasped the jewel and once again removed it from within her body. After getting the jewel out, Kouga had helped to heal the cut, using some sort of ointment Keiko had sent.
Now, Kagome only had to contain her abilities and miko power into the walls of the jewel. She and Kouga had went into the forest the next day, far away from any surrounding villages just incase something went wrong. After focusing her concentration on the feeling of the jewel's power, she had drawn it out of her a little at a time and fused it into the jewel. Of course, it had seemed as though the miko abilities had not wanted to leave its hostess body and be contained into the jewel, putting up quite a fight and nearly causing Kagome to pass out from pure exhaustion before she had been able to pull all of it out of her. The backlashes of her power, fighting against being contained into the jewel had effectively destroyed most of the surrounding area where they had been.
Kouga, wanting to help, but not wanting to be purified from the backlashes, had done everything he possibly could to help her, which basically consisted of giving her support and keeping her from totally exhausting herself beyond repair -all from the relative safety of a high tree branch-. After the final backlash had disappeared and Kagome had contained the volatile power of her miko abilities, Kagome and Kouga had returned to the village to tell Kaede of their plan to send the jewel to none other than Miroku and Sango, who were still living in the demon exterminator village a few days away from her hut.
They had set out for the exterminator village the next day, and easily found the married couple. After giving them an explanation, and telling them what they had been told from Cali, Miroku and Sango quickly agreed to watch over the jewel until Kagome could once again wield the power. Their only request was to see the child as soon as possible after Kagome had given birth. Sango had confided secretly that she thought she was pregnant as well, but did not want to tell Miroku in case it was a false alarm. After placing the jewel in their care, Kouga had taken Kagome back to Kaede's hut to get some well deserved rest. It was then that the wolf demon learned why Inuyasha had been so scared of the future girl's temper when she was angry.
When Kagome had come through the well for the last time, Kouga had assumed that she would come to live with him and the wolf pack until she bore the child. It had only made sense to him, considering she would be practically defenseless without the power of the Shikon jewel. However, it seemed as though Kagome had had different thoughts. After resting for a while, Kouga had mentioned that they needed to get back to the den and check on things. Kagome had insisted on staying with Kaede, leaving Kouga free to still watch over his pack as needed. Kouga, of course, insisted that she come with him to live at the den until everything was over with.
Well, it had ended up with Kagome going with Kouga after Kaede had pointed out that she would be completely defenseless without the Shikon's power, and it would make more sense to be in the most secure location. Kagome had argued, saying that there was no point in her having to move to the den, that she was safe within the village. But, thanks to Kaede's insistence and Kouga's stubbornness, Kagome had caved and listened to her common sense after it had settled in. She eventually went with Kouga, knowing that without her miko powers, she was not completely defenseless, but she would be much safer surrounded by people who could protect her from harm.
The next month or so passed, and Kagome became used to the everyday routines of the den. Kouga reveled in the attention she was giving to his pack, and he spent as much time as he possibly could by Kagome's side. It became common to see the two of them walking by the stream in the evening time after the normal patrols and chores were finished and everyone had eaten dinner. Kagome, as a way to repay Kouga for his kindness, as well as kill some time during the long days, had taken over the duties of organizing the supplies that the tribes had been sending to the struggling areas of the Eastern lands. She kept inventory of what was in the main den's storage rooms, and made sure to send the surplus to the needed packs. It was during these days at Kouga's den that Kagome began to struggle even more with her feelings for the wolf prince and his family. It seemed as though the more her waist grew, the more her love for the wolves grew, especially for Kouga.
Kouga was happy with the arrangement, seeing as how they had had to split up three different tribes from the north and relocate them into the more stabilized southern packs. The lands were still dying at a rapid pace, and no one could figure out how to stop it, or where it was originating from. With the wolf packs gone, the villagers would be able to survive, but the stress caused by the relocation of some of the packs had taken its toll on the demon wolf royal family. Kouga was more stressed than usual, being one of the people responsible for taking care of the other packs.
In fact, all of Lord Jiro's children had come together to help out their brothers and sisters. Kouga, Raidon, and Kentaro -the youngest of the three brothers-, as well as Lord Jiro, Lady Laniko, and Kouga's sisters (Rei, Meleena, Ami, and Sakura) had taken a hand in the preparations, along with their respective mates. Kagome had been greeted by the rest of Kouga's family, and quickly gained acceptance because of her mannerisms and obvious devotion to Kouga and the tribes. She did not know it, but Kagome had won over the entire youkai royal house, just being who she was.
Kagome had welcomed the newcomers to Kouga's home den with warmth and grace that most female wolf leaders would not have shown to others. This quickly put many of the more nervous wolves at ease around the little miko. Of course, there were the people who did not approve of Kagome as Kouga's intended mate, but they were very few and far between. They were mostly elder members of the pack that were so stuck in the old traditions of the past that they had actually chastised Jiro when he had taken Laniko as his own because of her impure bloodline. But when word got around that Kagome was the miko who had purified the Shikon jewel, and was the wielder of its power, little else was said about her.
By now, everyone knew that Kouga and Kagome were not mated, and that she carried a child of inu heritage and not wolf heritage, and that she was not the actual leader of the tribes under Kouga's domain and protection, but they regarded her as such, with the utmost respect and reverence. The new members of the pack had quickly assimilated themselves into the normal, everyday routines of the central den, thanks mostly to Kagome's help. And for this, Kouga was forever grateful. In fact, Kentaro -Kouga's youngest brother- had jokingly asked if he could borrow Kagome for a few weeks and place her at his central den to help calm things down. Kouga had only beamed in happiness, knowing that if Kagome could win Kentaro's approval, there was little the miko could not do. Kentaro was the skeptic of the family, and always reserved. He tended to listen to the elders of his pack and stick with tradition until it was not possible to stick with it anymore. If he was willing to have Kagome at his den, then Kouga knew he had definitely chosen the woman who would eventually be his mate, and co-leader of his own tribe.
During this period of restructuring in the east, there were changes occurring else where as well. Inuyasha had been keeping track of Kagome's coming and going as much as he possibly could. It seemed that Kikyou had become overly angry towards the younger girl, though Inuyasha could not figure out exactly why. Kikyou had started talking in her sleep, cursing Kagome and the child to an eternity in Hell. Inuyasha was very concerned about both Kikyou and Kagome. Kikyou, because her growing miko abilities -at least up until Kagome had sealed her power in the Shikon- gave her a weapon to use against Kagome due to the growing animosity. And he worried about Kagome because he knew she would soon give up her own miko abilities in deference to their child's life, effectively leaving her defenseless.
It was because of this very reason that Inuyasha was somewhat relieve to find that Kagome had taken refuge with Kouga and the wolf packs. Inuyasha had not told Kikyou the real reason for the Shikon's power receding into her, and when the power stopped coming back to her, Inuyasha secretly knew that Kagome had finally contained her powers into the jewel and entrusted it to someone. Kikyou of course, was angry when the power stopped receding, and Inuyasha noticed that the once dead miko had started disappearing from the village more frequently when he was gone.
He had found her a mile outside the village one day, completely alone except for the lingering stench of another demon that permeated the air. He had questioned her about it, but Kikyou had brushed it off, telling him that she had went for a walk and gotten lost. That had not explained the demon scent, and Inuyasha knew she was once again hiding something, but he said nothing else, leaving the subject to die. He had started watching the priestess more carefully after that, but Kikyou had sensed she was being tailed, and quit running off.
The only time she did leave the village was every other week or so, to tend to an elderly couple named Yoshido that lived two days travel to the north of their home. Inuyasha had followed her the first couple of times, just to make sure where she was going. But after going with her three or four times, he had forgone the trip and let her go on her own, preferring to use the time to check up on Kagome. He did not really care to head to the north, seeing as how the stench of death still lingered in the air from the decaying land. What his concern was focused on was nothing other than Kagome.
The girl was positively glowing in the pregnancy. She was happy, and safe, and Inuyasha wanted to keep it that way. So when Kikyou's night time monologues about Kagome and the child had turned even more violent, Inuyasha was on alert instantly. Up until that point, he had been considering leaving Kikyou and going back to Kaede's village to try and reconcile with Kagome and his friends. However, now he stayed, continuing to play the part of Kikyou's lover, if only to watch out for Kagome's safety. He knew the future girl was safe with the wolves, but he was seriously afraid that Kikyou would snap and go after her.
'It won't matter how many wolves she had around her, if Kikyou wanted to kill her.' Inuyasha thought one day as he watched a very pregnant Kagome playing with some of the new wolf cubs from the safety of a tree downwind of her and the adult wolves with her. It seemed as though she had started having back aches because of the extra weight she had put on, but other than that she seemed perfectly content and happy. 'If Kikyou snaps and decides to go after her, she'll kill every youkai in her path before she gets to Kagome. And I can't let her do that to Kagome………or my child.'
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A/N - Okay. That's over with now. So, let's recap:
Kagome is staying with Kouga until the pregnancy is over.
The jewel was removed from Kagome and entrusted to Sango and Miroku after Kagome gave up her miko abilities in order to keep her child safe.
Kikyou is getting even more angry, and is starting to act suspicious.
Inuyasha, noticing the changes in Kikyou, changes his mind on going back to Kaede's to try and reconcile with his friends, and instead decides to stay around Kikyou in order to make sure that she does not harm Kagome or his child.
Three of the packs that once lived on the dying lands have had to be relocated, and split up among the more stable packs in the southern part of Lord Jiro's domain.
And last by not least, Kagome is starting to fall even harder for Kouga and his family.
There, I think that's the easiest recap. I hope I didn't loose you guys anywhere along there. So, I'll let you guys go to read the next chapter, when the sh** is going to hit the fan.
Hope you guys enjoy, and remember to leave me a review.
Later,
A.A.
