Chapter Twelve.
"You lied to me."
Her mind foggy with hormonal and physical fatigue, Kagome strained to focus on the woman at her feet. She was vaguely aware that the wailing cries around her were coming from a baby. Her baby. Yes, she'd just given birth, and Sango was upset about something…
"Nani?" she whispered in a voice hoarse from screaming.
Kaede glanced up from her work, searching both women's gazes as she finished wiping mucus from the child and wrapped it into a warm blanket. This wasn't the time or place, they still had work to do. "Sango, please take the baby for a moment, we still have the afterbirth."
Tearing her eyes away from the young miko she'd been staring at, Sango accepted the bundle from Kaede and sat back. Moments later the work was done, and Kaede had deftly cleaned up, helping Kagome to relax into a more comfortable position.
"The baby, is it…?
"It's a boy," Kaede answered. "A strong, healthy baby boy."
"Let me see him," Kagome begged, holding out her arms toward Sango.
The taijiya, still staring down in disbelief at the infant in her arms, finally responded to her friend's request and laid the baby on the young woman's chest.
Kagome's eyes instantly focused on the infant's face, all red and scrunched up like an angry old man. He was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. She studied his tiny fingers and toes, counting to make sure everything was where it should be. Moving up to his head, she ran a finger softly over the black fuzz on his otherwise bald skull. As she continued her exploration, the blanket slipped away revealing two small, fuzzy little projections.
He had perfect miniature replicas of the hanyou's ears. No wonder Sango had been in shock. Even the biggest idiot could identify the man who'd fathered this child.
"Sango-chan, I…" she wavered in her resolve, uncertain how to apologize for nine months of deception.
"Why?"
"I was afraid," she began weakly, still gazing down at the tiny miracle in her arms. The baby had quieted, and seemed thoroughly engrossed in the sound of his mother's voice. She knew he'd be hungry, and shifted a bit to give him access to his first meal.
Sango remained silent, allowing Kagome to tend to her child before pressing for a better answer. She didn't have to wait long, as Kagome finally looked up to her, eyes full of remorse.
"When it happened… at first I was in shock. I didn't know what to make of it. Kouga-kun explained to me about how youkai react to females in heat, and when I remembered how everything had occurred, I felt like it was my fault."
"How—how did it occur?" The demon exterminator blushed, realizing how inappropriate her question sounded. Still, she had to know – had the half-demon they'd entrusted their lives to on so many occasions truly raped her?
Reading her mind from the expression on her face, Kagome nodded. "Things happened much as I explained before, except that there wasn't a demon. Inuyasha transformed because I was teasing him while he was attuned to my scent. He took me in the cave he awoke in, and I escaped as soon as he fell asleep."
The baby had stopped suckling, and started drifting off to sleep again. Kagome replaced the fabric of her kimono and tucked him into his blanket, smiling softly at the soft sounds of his sleepy snoring.
"Kouga found you afterwards."
"Hai," Kagome nodded. "He wanted to kill Inuyasha, but I felt so guilty for my own role in the mess, I begged him not to. So instead, he brought me back to his place, cleaned me up, and told me I was pregnant."
"Who else knew?" Sango's throat constricted, her heart heavy with the knowledge that Kagome hadn't trusted her with the truth.
Seeing the pain in her friend's eyes, Kagome bit her lip. "Only Kouga, my mother, and Kaede. No one else, I promise."
"Why?"
Sighing, Kagome closed her eyes. "It was hard enough convincing Kouga-kun not to attack him. Even after he'd left me with his pack he kept talking about how he was going to make Inuyasha pay. Even if I could have convinced you to forgive him, I was afraid you'd slip up and he'd find out."
At those words, Sango started. Of course! Inuyasha… he still didn't know!
"Kagome… you have to tell him. You absolutely must."
The miko's eyes flew open again, filled with horror. Her slight jump woke the infant, and he started to cry softly.
"Shh, shh," Kagome rocked the baby, smoothing her hand over his head taking care not to push down on his delicate ears. "It's okay, baby, don't cry…"
"Kagome…"
"IIE! I can't, Sango. Even after all this time… ESPECIALLY after all this time. If he found out that I kept this from him, and that it happened because he raped me, it would absolutely destroy him. You must know that's true!"
"He'll definitely be distressed, I won't deny it, but Kagome – look at him!" She pointed to the crying infant, "I think he's going to realize something's not quite right when he sees the baby!"
"I know," Kagome whispered. "That's why I'm leaving tonight."
"NANI?"
"I knew he wouldn't be in the room when it happened, so at first I just worried about how to hide the ears before I made my getaway. This is actually working out for the best."
"You're just going to leave? Not even say goodbye to him?"
Kagome hugged the infant closer to her breast, the tears streaming down her cheeks. "Hai."
* * * * *
Miroku held onto Shippou as the little kit cried his heart out. He couldn't believe Kagome was leaving him behind.
"Are you sure you can't be convinced to stay, Kagome-sama?" Miroku patted the kit on the head lightly, urging him to calm down. "I understand that you want to share the child with your family, but surely you'd like to rest first? We'd be more than happy to help you care for the little one."
"You're kind, Miroku-sama, but no. I really do have to leave now."
"Inuyasha's going to be so mad that we let you go," Shippou cried out, a fresh wave of tears pouring from his eyes.
"He'll be okay," Kagome assured him, her voice wavering.
Sango tapped the baby's nose lightly, smiling as it scrunched up in a cute little expression of annoyance. "You'll keep a shard, right?"
"Yes," Kagome answered. "When you get the rest together, you can come back for the last piece, just like we agreed."
"If you change your mind –"
"I won't."
"Still, if you do," Sango stared hard at the girl, and Kagome held her words, "you always have a home here. Even without Inuyasha."
"You promised not to tell him, don't forget."
"It would be cruel," the taijiya replied. "If you told him yourself, at least you'd be here. I'm not going to watch the life go out of his eyes. Not again."
"Arigato."
"Don't thank me. I feel absolutely rotten about all of this."
Biting her lip, Kagome nodded. "All right then." She lifted her gaze past Sango's shoulder and forced a smile. "I'll remember you all, and maybe sometime in the future I'll drop by again with pictures or something. Please, take good care of yourselves."
"You too, Kagome-sama."
Shippou tried to say something, but all that came out of his mouth were howls of grief.
Careful not to squish the baby between them, Kagome hugged Sango with one arm before stepping back again and walking toward the well. "I love you all," and with a final glance at the clearing around her, she hopped down the well, never to be seen again.
* * * * *
"She could have at least spent the rest of the night," Miroku mused. "Inuyasha may not have been eager about the baby when he first found out but I think he's been more than a little helpful."
His words hovered on the edge of Sango's consciouness as she stared numbly into the fire before them. Kaede had gone to sleep hours ago, taking Shippou in with her to comfort the little kit. Looking up at Miroku, Sango made a decision. She'd promised not to tell Inuyasha. She'd said nothing about keeping Miroku in the dark.
"She was trying to keep Inuyasha from seeing the baby," Sango explained softly.
The monk's eyebrows knit in confusion, and he was about to question her when she spoke again.
"The baby is his."
"How…how is that possible? I thought she mated with—"
"It was a lie," Sango answered, cutting him off. "She'd never been with Kouga, it was just a story they made up to explain why she was marked."
"I'm confused."
Laughing at the insanity of the situation, Sango turned to face Miroku fully. "The day they both disappeared, Inuyasha left Tetsusaiga on the beach, remember? Well apparently Kagome was giving off a scent that drove him into a mating urge and along with all the teasing… he became a full youkai and raped her."
Miroku's eyes widened so large Sango thought they'd pop right out of his head. "He…he raped her?"
Eager to finish her story, Sango rushed on, "he doesn't know, even now. Kagome blamed herself for the situation, and didn't want him to feel guilty, so she made up the story about Kouga to hide the truth from him. The infant looks so much like him, Houshi-sama. It even has his ears."
"So she left before he got back so that she could continue to hide the truth from him."
"Hai."
"What are we going to tell him?"
"Nothing. I promised Kagome I would keep her secret, and I expect you to do the same."
When it appeared he was going to protest, Sango shook her head. "Think about it, do you want to be the one to tell him he lost the woman he loves and the child he never knew he had in the same night?"
Miroku pondered her words, and hung his head in sadness when he realized she was right. "I guess not."
"We'll just tell him that Kagome was ill and returned to her home for special treatment. That should be believable enough."
"And when he wonders why she hasn't returned?"
"That's between the two of them and fate."
The monk nodded in agreement, still staring at the ground beneath him. So much sorrow and joy in such a short time. He should have been completely thrilled that his curse was lifted, but at the moment all he could think about was a lonely young mother, a fatherless child, and the naïve hanyou who at any moment would return.
No sooner had he thought of the half-demon when he appeared in the hut.
"Oi Sango, Miroku, where's Kagome?" His face was lit with a shining grin and his hands were clasped behind his back as though hiding something.
The two humans shared a look, silently arguing over who would be the one to break the news. Sango lost the battle, and stood up to face the hanyou.
"Inuyasha, I have some bad news."
His heart stopped at the expression on her face, and he glanced about the room, looking for some sign of the young woman who held his heart. Not finding the yellow backpack or any of her things lying around, he started to sniff the air. That's when he caught it: the scent of birthing.
"She had the baby."
"Yes, but that's not all."
"Tell me she's okay, Sango," he dropped the small parcel he'd been hiding and grasped the taijiya's arms roughly, searching her eyes for evidence of Kagome's whereabouts.
"She's fine, Inuyasha. There were some…complications… after the birth and so she went home to see one of her own doctors."
"Is she going to be okay?"
The taijiya nodded slowly, the lie eating her alive more and more each second. "Yes, I'm sure she'll be perfectly healthy. The baby too."
"Did you get to see it?"
"Yes."
"And?"
"He was the most adorable thing you could imagine," she answered him truthfully.
Relieved, Inuyasha released Sango's arms and came to sit on the floor, picking up the pouch he'd dropped in fear.
"What's in the bag?" Miroku asked, hoping to lighten the mood.
"It's something I picked up for Kagome," Inuyasha answered him, a blush creeping onto his cheeks. "I'll give it to her when she comes back."
"May I see it?"
Quickly debating the idea in his head, Inuyasha finally nodded and opened the pouch to drop a small necklace into the palm of his hand. "It was my mother's," he explained, turning over the small rose quartz figurine attached to its chain. "I managed to retrieve it from her after she died, and hid it in a tree not too far from here." His blush deepened into a dark crimson. "I'm going to give it to her when I ask her to become my mate."
Sango broke out into tears, running from the room.
