Tomecko: It's looking like this one will be around fifteen chapters, give or take.
Disclaimers, see chapter one.
Chapter Ten.
It was late at night, but inside Kaede's hut, it might as well have been mid-day. Its usual occupants, instead of sleeping, were running around like headless chickens going about their various errands as ordered by the old miko.
"Isn't it a bit soon for this?" Sango worried aloud, accepting another blanket from Miroku before plopping Shippo into his arms and shooing the men out the door.
"Aye, sooner than I'd like but it's not our decision."
"Isn't there some magic spell you can use on me to make this easier?" Kagome whined from her crouching position, eyes glazed over with pain.
"Ye would think so, but no," Kaede replied with a bit of sarcastic humor. "Now lie down for a moment, child, I want to check your stomach."
With a little help from Sango, Kagome managed to flatten herself on the futon. She stared up at the thatched roof, breathing as deeply as she could and grasping Sango's hand. The contractions were actually still quite far apart, but each one gripped her with such extraordinary discomfort the miko didn't know how she'd survive the more frequent ones.
Noticing a frown on Kaede's face, Sango quietly whispered to her, "is something wrong?"
"Hai. She really shouldn't be contracting so much without having broken her water."
* * * * *
Outside, Miroku and Inuyasha were pacing in large circles, the latter male's ears straining for bits of conversation going on indoors.
"What's going on in there?" Miroku prodded when the hanyou had been quiet for some time.
"Not really sure, Sango started whispering; but she sounded worried."
Shippou tugged at Inuyasha's haori, his sleepy eyes filled with concern. "Is Kagome going to be okay?"
"Baka, women have babies all the time."
"Not this early," he whined.
"How do you know so much about it?"
"I read Kagome's book too."
Miroku raised an eyebrow at the kitsune, wondering if maybe he shouldn't have taken a glance at the thing. Seemed like everyone else had. "What is she, about eight months along?"
"Hai," Inuyasha answered.
An unexpected gust of wind tore the men's attention from the hut.
Kouga.
"I heard my woman screaming, Inukkoro. What have you done to her?"
As he opened his mouth to form a retort, another scream ripped through the night air. Eventually it died down, allowing him to voice his thought. "Teme, I'm not the one who got her pregnant."
Kouga's eyes widened as he continued to stare at the hut. "She—she's having the pup?"
Shippou nodded, glaring at the wolf demon. "Yeah, and a lot of help you've been."
Miroku groaned, resting his head in his hands. Now was not the time for this…
The three demon incarnate were engaged in a battle of wills, watching each other for a sign of weakness. Kouga twitched, Shippo sniffed, and Inuyasha growled. At last Inuyasha sneezed. Someone was gossiping about him again.
"If someone had called me I would have come over," Kouga finally defended himself. "I am the pup's father, after all."
"There's more to being a father than showing up every now and then and boasting about it," Inuyasha snapped back.
"Like you wouldn't? Anyway, I'll bet if it was your whelp you'd be off with that dead bitch, getting some time in while Kagome was too fat to service you."
"Don't you talk about Kikyou," the hanyou warned.
Kouga snickered, "exactly. I don't know why Kagome insists on keeping you in her life. You're nothing but a dirty, faithless, half-breed."
"I've got news for you, wolf-man, that kid of yours isn't going to be any more demon than I, so if you have a problem with hanyou, then I recommend you leave now before you upset Kagome."
"Why you—"
"BOYS!"
The demons turned toward Miroku, who was now standing next to Sango just outside the hut.
"Nani?"
"If you would just stop arguing for one second," Miroku shook his head, realizing it was a futile wish, "you'd have noticed that Kagome-sama stopped screaming."
Ice water filled Inuyasha's veins at the implications. "Is she…?"
Sango recognized his fear and slapped Miroku for his poor choice of words. "No, no. She's fine. It was false labor."
"False…labor…?"
Shippou jumped down from the hanyou's shoulder, shaking his head. "Tsk, tsk, you really are a baka. Even I remember what that is."
"So," he paused, "no baby?"
"Not yet," Sango affirmed. "Which is good because it was too early anyway."
Without waiting for an invitation, Kouga bounded past the taijiya and into the hut, coming to a stop at Kagome's side. The young woman was resting snugly underneath the covers of her futon, sweat pasting her hair to her face.
"Kouga-kun, what are you doing here?" she asked him weakly, wishing it were Inuyasha or even Miroku who came to visit her instead.
"Heard your screaming while I was out hunting. Wanted to make sure Inukkoro wasn't going for a second round." At her annoyed glare, he shifted his crouch and tried to change the subject. "So what happened, anyway? Why did you start having the baby and then stop?"
"I went out on a shard hunt today." Before he could chastise her, she held up a hand. "I know, I know. I shouldn't have so much as left the hut in my last month, and I've already promised Kaede that this was the last time. No matter what. It's just that with Akureiketsu's help we're sure to get Naraku at last, and I really want to be a part of that."
"Well no woman of mine is going to go out and get herself and my pup killed over Inukkoro's dead wench."
"Your pup?"
"Well, yeah, I mean since we agreed to tell him it's mine, I figured after you whelped we could go back to the pack and raise it there, right?"
Kagome struggled to sit up, staring Kouga straight in the eye. "We agreed to pretend, Kouga-kun. I am not going to be your mate."
"Yes, but –"
"No buts. When I have this baby, I'm taking it back to my world and raising it there with my mother's help."
"What about a father?"
"I'll manage," she answered him, not liking his tone of voice.
"That's not acceptable. After all I've done to help you…"
Kagome laughed bitterly. "Yes, you've helped. You got me cleaned up and took me home. Then you proceeded to pick on Inuyasha every chance you got, rubbing his face in this whole mess. Yes Kouga, thank you for helping."
The wolf demon's eyes flashed, his pride wounded. "So even after all of this, you're still picking dog turd over me?"
"I'm picking no one, Kouga. But if I had to, I would choose Inuyasha. Even believing that this was your baby, he's been far more helpful to me than I could have ever imagined."
"He raped you!"
"He redeemed himself," she replied. "If he'd done it maliciously, I never would have come back; but he wasn't himself and I was being stupid and yet somehow things have managed to work out."
Unable to come up with a coherent thought, Kouga's mouth moved without words. At last, he stood up, and glared down at her. "Fine, you want to do this with Inukorro, be my guest. See if I come around anymore."
With that, he stomped out the door, running right into Inuyasha. He growled, and directed his fiery stare at the hanyou. "If she likes you so much, then you can have her. I'm done with this shit. That kid's going to be an abomination anyway."
Just as quickly as he'd appeared, Kouga was gone.
"What the fuck was that all about?" Inuyasha watched the dust settle where Kouga had taken off, turning his gaze to the door of the hut. He was about to go in when Sango held him back.
"Let me talk to her, she needs to calm down or the contractions might start up again."
With great reluctance, Inuyasha agreed and allowed Miroku to pull him along the dusty path that led out of the village.
"Come on my friend, let's go for a little walk."
* * * * *
Inuyasha tossed another flat stone onto the surface of the pond, watching as it skipped three times before sinking down. The small sliver of moonlight he saw reflected on the water did nothing to help his mood. Tomorrow night he'd be a human.
"Do you think he's really abandoned her?"
Miroku blinked a few times, wondering himself what the wolf demon had meant with his words. "Is it possible for a demon to leave their mate like that?"
Nodding, Inuyasha searched the ground for another stone. "Doesn't usually happen, but yeah."
"So what happens to the female if her mate casts her off?"
"Well, if she's strong enough she survives, and finds a pack to help her raise their offspring. I guess in Kagome's case that would be us."
"And if she's not?"
"Then she might get hunted by people like us, or eaten by other youkai." Running his tongue along his fangs in thought, Inuyasha quietly added, "or she might find a new mate."
The hanyou's quiet words weren't lost on the monk. "So she is free to bond with a new male, then?"
"Hai. But most demons don't want a tainted woman. That only happens in the case where the female and her new male already had some bond before the previous mating, or if the male is too weak to be accepted by more pure females."
Considering Inuyasha's words, he spoke again, "It would be a dishonor for someone such as yourself to take in Kagome-sama and her child?"
Inuyasha snorted, throwing his next rock a bit roughly, causing it to sink immediately. "I'm already a joke among youkai; it wouldn't really make much of a difference."
"Inuyasha?"
The hanyou remained silent, having abandoned his search for throwable stones in favor of studying the stars above. After what felt like hours, he turned to Miroku, his face awash in uncertainty.
"Do you think I should do it?"
Playing dumb, Miroku raised a questioning eyebrow. "Do..?"
"Ask Kagome to become my mate, Bouzou. I know you're not as stupid as you look, stop pretending."
Considering the situation, the monk heaved a sigh and chose his words carefully. "I guess that depends on your intentions."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, Kouga had a point back there. You do run off after Kikyou-sama every chance you get. It's bad enough with this ambiguous chemistry you and Kagome-sama share, I know it hurts her a great deal." He watched the hanyou's head fall in shame, but continued his thought, "It would only be worse if you kept up that behavior as her mate."
"I already decided I'd give her up completely if I bonded to Kagome," Inuyasha replied to the monk's unspoken question. "Back when this whole thing started, and I ran off. I was angry at first, and confused. Then I realized I still had a chance if I could challenge Kouga for Kagome, so I spent that entire night deciding whether I was ready to put Kikyou in the past."
"And?"
"I am," he answered simply. "It isn't easy, but Kaede was right: she's not the same Kikyou that I knew fifty-two years ago. This Kikyou is no better than Kagura, really. I mean, she tries to do nice things for people, and that's the part of her old soul speaking. Still, ultimately what keeps her here on earth is the desire for vengeance and that's not what I want to be with."
"Do you love Kagome-sama?"
"I'm not sure."
Miroku looked at the eastern sky, watching as the first rays of light began to emerge from the horizon. There were few clouds in the sky, promising a beautiful day. "If I were you," he finally spoke again, "I'd spend my time trying to answer that question. Because if you don't love her, then you'll only be hurting her more."
Inuyasha was deep in thought, which pleased Miroku more than any words the hanyou could have spoken. He already knew the young demon loved his miko companion, but ultimately he had to read his own heart to know it. Stretching the kinks out of his limbs, Miroku patted the hanyou's shoulder in a comforting gesture, and slowly walked back to the village.
