A/N: Ok, I fixed the name. I noticed that a while ago but lost the disk with the story on it before I could fix it. Sorry all!
"How could she..." he breathed angrily as he flew above he treetops. "How could she go and - and - and-" He screamed his frustration out over the forest as he landed in the nearest tree available.
"A pup! She had a pup! Why..." Inu Yasha settled himself down into the crook of a large limb and allowed himself to quietly sulk. He knew he hadn't been the most attentive guy in Japan, but still, couldn't she have told him she was lonely? That she had found another? And when had she had TIME to find another male, never mind make and have a pup! How did he miss it all?
Maybe he was oblivious, like Kagome had always told him, but he still would have noticed a pregnant Kagome! No body could hide a little pup in their stomach, could they? No, he remembered seeing pregnant women in the villages and they almost always had big stomachs. Not to mention that they had smelled different than normal. A pregnant woman always smelt satisfied.
Kagome had never smelt that way. Of course, it was rare that she smelt anything but good to him. Still... He couldn't remember her smelling satisfied. Though she had smelt a bit off lately, now that he thought about it. He couldn't place how, but he did remember her smelling just a little bit different lately. Could that have been it?
Inu Yasha cursed, scaring some hapless birds out of a near by tree. "How could she? And with -"
He stopped suddenly as he realized he didn't know who the father was. With a growl, he shot out of his tree and back towards the village.
"It had better not be Kouga or Miroku! I'll kill them with my bare hands for touching her! I'll kill them!"
He flew even more quickly back to Kaede's hut and burst through the door, ignoring the surprised gasps of its occupants as he stomped up to Miroku and lifted him high off the floor. Miroku gripped his hands, fear clouding his dark eyes as he realized the intense fury Inu Yasha was directing towards him.
"Was it you," Inu Yasha growled passionately into the hapless monk's face. "Are you the father of Kagome's pup?"
"Pup," Miroku choked out. "What pup? Kagome has a pup?"
"You mean you abandoned them," Inu Yasha roared. "You've given her a pup and then just gone off and forgotten about it!"
Miroku choked and Inu Yasha ignored the broom that Kaede brought down on his head in an effort to end the confrontation. He shoved the sputtering monk up against the wall and raised a clawed hand threateningly over the man.
"No..." Miroku gasped out. "I've...never...touched Kagome.... She's yours! Every...one...knows that!"
Inu Yasha's rage faded a little at the sincere words and knew the monk wouldn't dare lie to him when Inu Yasha had him in such a position. He let the monk slide to the floor and steeped back, looking slightly lost. He let his knees I've out underneath him and fell to sit before the still panting monk.
"Then who..."
"Why don't you ask her," Kaede told him drily as she gave him a final swat with the broom for punishment. She huffed as Inu Yasha simply turned his head to stare at her incredulously, but still knelt down beside him. "And what is this about Kagome having a pup?"
"When she came through the well..." Inu Yasha told her, his eyes wells of sadness, "She was holding a human baby. And it - It called her 'Mama.'"
"Mama," Miroku repeated confused. What did that mean?
"It's what children call their mothers in her time. I've heard Kagome call her mother that before," he said dejectedly. Now that he had no one to rage at anymore, the fact that his Kagome was a mother was beginning to depress him.
He started at a loud THUMP and stared wide-eyed at the startled monk who had somehow managed to slip and fall to the floor from his own sitting position. Miroku's lips seemed to move silently as he stared in shock at the hanyou before. Words never had time to form though, Kaede was quicker.
"And are you going to marry her now," the old miko asked him sternly, the set of her face warning him that his answer had better be "yes" or there would be hades to pay.
"It's not mine," Inu Yasha yelled, jumping up.
Miroku and Kaede blinked up at him for a moment before Miroku sighed and hung his head, "Poor boy. She went and found a man who wasn't afraid of commitment. Well, we did tell you to hurry it up with her and quit chasing after Kikyo."
Kaede nodded in agreement and smirked at Miroku as Inu Yasha bopped him twice, once in place of Kaede. Kaede snickered as Miroku glared at her in irritation, grumbling something about Inu Yasha being a slow learner. Inu Yasha punched him a third time for good measure.
"Still," Kaede said thoughtfully, "I wonder how Kagome managed to hide it from us for so long. How old was the child, Inu Yasha?"
Inu Yasha scowled, "Feh! A pup is a pup! Who cares how old it is?"
Miroku sighed, still rubbing his sore head, "She means, could Kagome have had the child before she met us?"
Inu Yasha blinked over at Miroku for a second before growled loudly in anger, "I would have noticed a pup or a husband in her house if it was. Only men who live with her are her brother and her grandfather."
Miroku and Kaede nodded, "Yes, but what if he was already gone when we first met her and the child was simply elsewhere during your visits."
Hope filled Inu Yasha at the thought of there no longer existing a man to compete for Kagome's attentions, but he didn't allow the others to see it. He deepened his scowl and looked around the room. His body tensed as he realized that only Kaede and Miroku were present. Fear squeezed his heart as he remembered that the only other occupants of the room hadn't heard of the pup until he had arrived to tell them of it.
"Where's Kagome? Didn't she come here after I left her at the well?"
Miroku's eyes widened as he watched Inu Yasha glance about the room restlessly, "No. We haven't seen her all day. What do you mean you left her at the well?"
Inu Yasha didn't answer, he simply turned and started for the door, but he'd only made it halfway when Sango burst through the flap, panting and wild-eyed.
"He took them," she told them urgently. "Sesshomaru took Kagome, Shippo and the baby!"
"NANI," the three chorused before the two boys rushed past Sango and out the door. Sango turned and followed, hopping on a transformed Kirara as she went. Miroku leapt on after her and they flew beside Inu Yasha to the well site.
"He headed toward the west," she called over to Inu Yasha. He nodded but neglected to stop until he'd reached the well. He sniffed the air, but couldn't pick up any thing but the most subtle of scents from the captive three and his brother. Frowning in determination, he sped of towards the west. Perhaps he could still catch up to them.
Ignoring Sango and Miroku as they conversed over what had happened, he ran as quickly as he could into the now setting sun.
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It was dark already by the time Sesshomaru finally stopped and allowed Kagome and the children to fall to the ground. She tried to fall in such a way that would cushion the Shippo and Tsutaki, but Tsutaki still set up a keening cry at the hard landing.
She cuddled the child close, trying desperately to calm her before their captor became too angry. The last thing she needed was a rampaging Sesshomaru and two frightened children.
Make that three...
Sesshomaru, to Kagome's utter surprise, ignored the crying baby and approached a moaning young girl. Rin, if Kagome remembered the name correctly, laid in a bed of soft grass and blankets, twisting in a feverish sleep. Kagome's maternal instincts, already awakened and honed by Shippo and Tsutaki, kicked into full drive and she pushed the still crying baby into Shippo's lap before hurrying over to see the sick child.
"What happened," she asked the quiet demon next to her as she leant down to touch her forehead to the restless Rin. The child seemed to like the cool touch and pushed herself closer to its source.
"She became ill," he told her simply, as though she couldn't have already known that.
"She's got a high fever, but I don't see anything else wrong with her..." Kagome told him, checking Rin over throughly. She drew back the blankets and felt for Rin's pulse. It was fast, but steady and no where that Kagome looked on her flushed body could she find any other outward signs of her illness. "What else has she been doing? Throwing up? Has she been getting cold, or just staying feverish and like this?"
"Like this," Shesshomaru told her, his eyes settling on something over her head.
Kagome looked up to see Jaken walking towards them, carrying a melon and a basket full of herbs. She sighed as she realized the reason she had been kidnapped. Shesshomaru had wanted a human miko to care for his child, not simply a demon who had very little use for the art of medicine.
"I will return tomorrow. Use the herbs to heal her," Shesshomaru told her, turning and walking away. "Jaken will bring you anything else you need."
"All except a hospital," Kagome grumbled under her breath as she tucked her patient back in. If Shesshomaru had heard her, he ignored her and she watched his retreating back until it had finally disappeared.
"You better heal her, human," Jaken warned her. "If you let Lord Shesshomaru's pet human die, you'll follow after her."
Kagome glared at him as Shippo brought Tsutaki up beside her and snarled back at the gnat-like demon, "Then why didn't he heal her with his Tensaiga if he cares so much for her?"
Jaken snorted with laughter, "Fool! Tensaiga only works on the dead! Besides, he already tried that..."
Kagome sighed as she allowed Tsutaki to rub her face into her thigh, "Nemui, Mama..."
"Do you have extra blanket, Jaken-san," Kagome asked him politely.
Jaken tsked in irritation, but retrieved one anyway. His master had been in a very strange mood since Rin had become sick and he didn't want to risk the wrath of Shesshomaru. The demon wasn't known for his patience at the best of time, after all.
Kagome wondered briefly where Jaken had kept the blanket in such an empty forest grove, but kept her concerns to herself. Instead, she settled Tsutaki down with Shippo and tucked them both in, telling Shippo to watch over the sleeping baby while she cared for Rin. Shippo fought against being treated as a child, but allowed himself to be put to bed with only limited grumbling and fell asleep with Tsutaki curled up beside him.
Kagome sigh yet again with relief and went back to Rin and the herbs that Jaken had. She recognized a few from training with Kaede and realized that she knew a salve she could make from them. Thanking Sango and Miroku for insisting that she learn some more traditional methods of healing, she set to work. Hopefully, she could have Rin's fever broken and be home in just a couple of days. She had to be home in a couple of days, or else... Or else there would be some angry adults waiting to lecture her into non-existence.
Still, it never hurt to make sure. A damp compress applied to the girl's heated skin now, while she made the salve, might help ensure that Rin cooled down sooner than later.
"Jaken-san, go get me some damp cloths, please. And make sure they're damp with lukewarm water."
She ignored the small demon as he walked away, grumbling under his breath about the unfairness of life, and prepared herself for along night. She wasn't going to sleep until this fever was broken. She didn't want to consider the alternative.
A/N: (Old)
Ok, so I've been away a really long time... SORRY! Life just got very hectic and...well.. It's been interesting... Anyway, I'm finally feeling the urge to write again and getting back the energy to do so. Still, this particular fic is not going to be that long. 2 or 3 more chapters I think. Unless I change my mind...
And no, I'm not telling you who the baby belongs to. You're just gonna havta angst along with Inu Yasha and company. Though, for the detectives in the audience, there are a couple of clues for you by now...
Anyway, this isn't a very good chapter, but it was something and I had particular fun with Inu Yasha. Poor guy... Anyway, I only dislike my presentation of the chapter I think, not the actual happenings. It might get revamped later, but until then, here ya go! Don' judge too harshly. It's only a day off in my exhausting schedule that allowed me to write it, period.
Oh well! See you next time. Perhaps with Kouga... Or else simply a big surprise for Inu Yasha. He's so fun to torture!!