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Let's make it real clear here:  My name is NOT Rumiko Takahashi, and I do NOT own Inuyasha.  I do however own this story, and any characters I invent.

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            Later that night, the group gathered around a warm fire while Inuyasha shivered under a blanket, after being forced to wash his haori and take a bath in a cold stream.  They hadn't left the village because Keade and Sango were too worried about Kagome's health to allow them to go anywhere.

            And Kagome had yet to stop puking.

            Inuyasha growled under his breath.  Guess I should've just let her stay home after all.

            "Hey, wen_ Kagome," he said, after noticing the "I'll-sit-you-till-next-Tuesday" look on her face, "I'll take you back tomorrow."

            "Thanks Inuyasha."  Kagome whispered, before closing her eyes, and drifting off to sleep.

            I just hope it isn't what I think it is, thought Inuyasha as he closed his eyes too.

******

            The next time Kagome opened up her eyes, she found herself asleep in her bed, with the covers all neatly tucked around her.  A little smiled graced her lips as she sat up and stretched.

            And then found herself making a desperate run for the bathroom, where her mother found her almost an hour later.

            "I think I need to see a doctor."  Kagome said weakly, before hurling again

******

            Later Kagome come home, tears spilling down her cheeks.  Struggling to get her mind around it.

            . . . . . . .About two months. . . . . . .

            . . . . . . .So sorry this had to happen to you. . . . . . .

            . . . . . . .Still time to take of this, if you want.  No one would blame you. . . . . . .

            Kagome flung herself over her bed, shoving her face into a pillow, burying her tears, now wishing she had never gone to the doctor's, that she'd NEVER met Hojo, and most of all, wishing for. . .

            "Kagome?"  Came the voice she was so desperate to hear.  At a sudden weight by her on her bed, she lunged up, burying her face in his read haori, sobbing hysterically.

            "Kagome . . ." He whispered, but then just held her for a while, until she brought herself to meet his eyes, and with one quick look, knew he already knew.

            "How long Inuyasha?  How long have you known?"  He deftly avoided her eyes, but she wasn't letting him go.  Finally, he met her eyes, and then looked down.

            "When you were helping me wash my haori. Normally it's hard for me to smell 'you' cause you use lotion and stuff, it hides your scent, but I got a pretty strong whiff."

            "Why didn't you say anything?"

            "Cause you didn't know."  Kagome snuggled deeper into his warmth, listening to the deep sound of his heartbeat before responding.

            "I don't know what to do!"

            "What are your choices?"

            "Kill it, send it away, or keep it."

            "Send it away.  Let someone else handle Hojo's accident."  Kagome jerked up, shocked at his cold-hearted statement

            "But. . .  isn't that punishing it for it's father's crime?"

            "If you have his child, you'll be binding yourself to him, forever.  I don't think you want that."

            "And if I give it away, over something that it had no control over?  Inuyasha, I can'!  It doesn't feel right to me.  I've already talked to Mom about school.  It's hopeless for me to try to keep up with running between worlds all the time.  She's going to home school me for a while."

            "You didn't ask for this.  You've got no obligation to this child."  Kagome looked down.  What he said was true, in a sense.  She hadn't asked for this.  Hojo forced it on her.  But, it was her baby too!  It belonged to her, or at least half of it did.  The baby was as innocent as she was, forced into existence by the same event that almost destroyed her.

            "I do have obligations to it Inuyasha."  Kagome whispered softly.  "It's my child too, and if I have to raise him or her alone, I'll do it."

            "Kagome. . . .  THAT'S THE STUPIDEST THING I'VE EVER HEARD!"  Kagome pushed him away glaring at him as he jumped onto the windowsill.

            "Inuyasha SIT!"  As Inuyasha met his good friend the dirt, Kagome slammed the window shut, ignoring the hanyou's shouts before the long silence that signaled his leaving.

******

            "You ready?"  Kagome looked up as the District attorney came out, kneeling down next to her.  It had been three weeks since her fight with Inuyasha, and she'd yet to hear a peep from him.

            "I guess as ready as I'll ever be."  Kagome responded dully, wishing her hanyou was here with her.  The DA smiled encouragingly as they walk into the higher court, the panel of three judges (a/n: they don't have a jury system in Japan, only a panel of three judges in higher cases.  I don't know about a DA, but there must a prosecuting attorney of some form) was empty for the moment as Hojo, in chains and cuffs, was lead in by armed policemen.  Kagome shuddered and looked away, as they all rose for the panel making there entrance.

            Opening arguments were made, and a few expert witnesses were called up, including the doctor who had treated Kagome.  The defense tried to lure him to saying that it was possible for the injuries to have come from "rough sex" but the doctor was adamant that the injuries were defensive, and that there was NO possible way it could've been consensual.  The DA even presented a video tape from a security camera that was installed in the living room, SHOWING the assault, and Kagome stating no a bunch of times.  Finally it was the big moment.

            "The prosecution calls to the stand Kagome Higurashi." Taking a deep breathe, Kagome rose and walked to the witness stand, shaking.

            "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you?"

            "I do."

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A note from FB: Okay, I know I know.  I'm kind of rushing it a bit, skipping around.  But in order to get to the good stuff I have to get through the mucky beginnings.  Please bear with me, and review!  Thank you all!

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