Act Fifteen
"Wow Kagome, your huge!"
Kagome laughed as she patted her swelling stomach. "Gee, thanks Shippo."
Quickly the teen fox-youkai scuttled up to Kagome's front, looking in wonder at her over-sized belly.
"I can't believe there's a baby inside you, Kagome."
Kagome nodded before looking back over at Inuyasha, her smile fading fast as her eyes mirrored her emotions. "Yea, neither can I."
Seeing Kagome's discomfort, Inuyasha walked over and thumped the teen on the head.
"Oi, get up, runt. Leave Kagome alone."
Standing, Shippo looked into the hanyou's eyes. "Why? I'm not doing anything to her, " he said bravely.
Inuyasha glared at the kitsune. Nearly as tall as himself, Shippo had become the definition of 'teenager'; hardheaded, clueless, challenging…a pain in the ass.
Sucking in air, Inuyasha puffed out his chest and stood at his full height. Glaring down at him, Inuyasha growled deep in his throat. "Are you challenging me, pup?" he hissed.
Shippo held his ground. Although his face didn't show any sign of weakness, a small glimmer in his eye told Inuyasha that he was backing down.
"Keh." Stalking away from the pup, we walked back over to where his mate stood. Taking her hand, he led her along the worn trail into the village.
Today was the annual Sakura flower festival, where all the villages in the immediate area forgot their differences and came together to celebrate the coming of the cherry blossoms on such a beautiful late spring morning.
Kagome, now six months along, was weighed down by her stomach. It had long-since outgrown the traditional miko clothes that she had originally worn, and Kaede had been caring enough to supply her with a maternity robe from one of the village women. Now, adorned in the light satin cloth, Inuyasha escorted her into the main village.
A moment later, Miroku and Sango, Shippo trailing behind, joined them. Kirara pranced ahead of them, cooing ever so often as she looked behind to make sure everyone was following her. As they entered the main road, Kagome and Sango's faces lit up.
"Wow, I've never seen so many people at the festival before!" Cried Sango as she hurried to one of the vendors. Kagome nodded and tried to follow, but Inuyasha caught her arm and held her back.
Looking into his face, she saw the unease and misplacement in his eyes. "Are you sure you don't want to go?" He muttered, pulling her closer.
Kagome sighed as she kissed him reassuringly. "Inuyasha, have some faith, will you? Nobody's gonna hurt you. Plus, I'm here. I wont let anybody hurt you."
"Keh," Inuyasha said as he glared at a wary visitor from another village. Kagome elbowed him in the ribs and gave him a look. Pouting, he followed her as she dragged him off to find Sango and Miroku.
The two need not look far, for Shippo and Miroku had located the Sake vendor. Sango stood nearby, chatting with several other ladies.
"Inuyasha! Over here!" The hanyou stalked over to were Miroku beckoned him. Kagome, tagging along behind, waved at Sango briefly before following.
"Come! For today, we christen Shippo a man!" Miroku exclaimed. He carefully passed out small glasses of sake to Kagome, Inuyasha and Sango, who had come over for a look, before handing Shippo his own glass. "Behold, his first drink of sake!"
Several passer-byers chuckled at Miroku's enthusiasm as several more stopped to watch.
Once again, Miroku turned back to Shippo. "Please, the first sip."
Looking dead serious, Shippo raised the glass to his lips. Swallowing the contents of the minuet goblet, he mad a face before spitting on the ground, features contorted in disgust.
"Aw! This stuff is awful! What in the world did you do to it, Miroku?"
The congregated crowd was now laughing hysterically as Miroku raised his own drink. "To Shippo, for his first drink!"
"To Shippo!" Echoed the group of friends.
Kagome lifted her glass to her lips, but Inuyasha quickly pulled it away before the liquid had even touched her mouth.
"Hey!" Kagome complained. "I was about to drink that."
Mouth dropping, she watched as Inuyasha made quick work of both glasses of sake. Replacing the glasses on the vendor's counter, he took her hand and led her away, towards the forest of his name.
"Kami, its so loud in there," He groaned as the noise drowned in the dense vegetation.
Still pouting, his mate looked at him. "Why didn't you let me drink that sake?"
Inuyasha gave her a look. "Its bad for the pup, wench. So I say no." He stomped the ground with his bare foot for emphasis.
Scowling, she rounded her expression on him. "But…I don't even want this baby. You don't want me to have this baby… We tried to get rid of it, why are you being protective of another demon's baby when it rightfully should be yours?"
Inuyasha stopped and gave her a fierce look. "Because…"
"Because why, Inuyasha…?"
The hanyou looked away. 'she smells different. I cant quite place my finger on it, but in just these last few weeks, her scent has changed. Could it mean that the pup is dying? Or is sick? I don't know, but I just don't want anything to happed to Kagome…'
"Aw, just drop it, its no big deal anyways."
She gave him a confused look, but agreed with the nod of her head. "Well then, if that's how its gonna be, we best get back to the village."
Inuyasha pinned his ears. "Ugh. Why? Its so noisy, why cant we just stay out here, where its quiet?"
Kagome started to pick her way back through the bramble, towards the clatter of the village. "Because, Kaede's going to give a speech, and she wanted me there. I think she was gonna ask me to say something about the jewel."
'The jewel… how am I going to explain its lack of luster? In these last few weeks, the Shikon no Tama has dimmed considerably. Instead of its usual purple hue, its almost a rose-gray. Is it possible that just me and Inuyasha mating caused the jewel to purify itself?'
Inuyasha sighed before moving swiftly to Kagome's side and lifting her up and darting towards the village.
Setting her down he grunted sarcastically. "Geez, Kagome. If you get any bigger, I'm gonna hafta start rolling you around." He laughed as Kagome gave him a look.
"That's not funny, Inuyasha. Plus, I'm only six months along, I still got another three to go." She commented sternly before walking towards the village center. Already, a crowd had started to gather. Kagome smiled as she spotted Kaede on the makeshift stand that Miroku and Inuyasha had created last night. Next to her stood a small girl, Narau, her first apprentice.
Kagome smiled and waved to the blacked-haired girl. Narau smiled and waved back.
Narau didn't visit often, because her family lived several villages over. And she couldn't stay, for she was the eldest of twelve. Still, she trained with Kaede whenever she could, enhancing her talented miko skills.
As the couple arrived, Kaede spotted them. A faint smile exploded her face into various wrinkles and lines, aging her several years. Quickly she beckoned to them, whispering something to Narau in the meantime.
Inuyasha stepped affront of Kagome and began to part the crowd, her following closely to avoid drowning in the sea of people. Once they reached the platform, Kaede hugged Kagome and Narau hugged her as well. Inuyasha was content to stand behind the three, frowning in annoyment.
"Kagome! I didn't know you were pregnant! I only saw you four months ago!" gasped Narau as she gently touched her swollen abdomen.
Kagome laughed uneasily. "Well, I was showing at two months."
Narau nodded. "Guess I didn't notice." She laughed as the baby kicked. "Feisty one." Turning to look at Inuyasha, she bowed in best wishes. "Congratulations, Inuyasha. I know you and Kagome are going to be the best parents." She gave a happy smile as Inuyasha nodded, not knowing what to say. He quickly exchanged saddened looks over the girl's head with Kagome before thanking her hesitantly.
"So, Kaede, do you want me to say anything during the speech?" Asked Kagome, turning to the old priestess.
Quickly Kaede turned to Kagome. "No, I think it best that ye don't present yourself and bring unwanted attention."
Kagome frowned. "How is that?"
"Inuyasha."
The hanyou pricked up his ears as his expression grew darker. "What about me?"
Kaede sighed, rubbing her temple with her old fingers. "Kagome is visibly heavy with child. And, being escorted by ye, it is only assumed the baby is yours."
Inuyasha nodded, growling deep in his throat. "And your point would be…?"
The miko shook her head. "Not everyone is as accepting of a hanyou as us, Inuyasha. It would be looked down upon, for Kagome to birth your pup. At least, for other mikos."
Inuyasha bared his teeth. "Well then, its probably a good thing then its not mine!" He snarled.
Turning on his heel, he took to the sky, towards the nearest tree and set off into the forest.
Narau was well past confused. "What did he mean, 'not mine'?"
Kagome shook her head, on the edge of tears. She started away, when Kaede stopped her.
"Although I would rather you stay concealed, I would like to present the Shikon no Tama and give credit to those who put it back together and defeated the bandit, Onigumo, and the youkai, Naraku."
Kagome sucked in a nervous breath. "Well…" Slowly she withdrew the muted jewel and showed it to Kaede. "It's not like usual."
Kaede's eyes widened as she examined it closer. "Aye, indeed it is. I have never seen such a thing. When did this come about?"
Kagome fidgeted. "Well, it started to dim about three months ago, or that's when I really first noticed."
Kaede nodded. "Well, perhaps there shall be no appearances tonight, merely mentions of those."
Kagome nodded before running off into the forest, hot on the heels of her mate.
"Inuyasha! INUYASHA!" Kagome gasped for air as she touched her stomach. She looked about, concerned.
She had been looking for Inuyasha when she must have taken a wrong turn. Now, she was stuck in the middle of the woods with night falling fast.
In nothing more than the thin maternity kimono, the chilly night air was beginning to nip through the cloth.
"Ok, don't panic. It's all right. He's gotta have heard that last one, with his super-doggy hearing."
She smiled as a rustle from behind her alerted her. "Oh, good Inuyasha. Your hear. I didn't think I would get lost."
She ran towards the shadowed figure. Less than two feet away however, she realized her mistake.
Steel-blue eyes and a voice that reminded her or shattering glass.
To learn (a skill): NarauA/N: wipes sweat from forehead Wowza, fifteen chapters already? I'm really jammin' these chappies out. Think I needa break. Dodges various objects Just playin, just playin! I kid, I kid, I joke, I joke! Lol. I love Triumph. Anyways, this fic it hitting pretty close to home now. My good friend just told me that she's six days pregnant as of the 6th. And, scary thing is… we ourselves are no older than Kagome at the beginning of the Inuyasha series. That's right, my pregnant friend and me are ninth graders; freshmen, and only fifteen. (Actually, she's fifteen; I don't turn fifteen until February 22.) And, she's going to have the baby. I haven't asked her about weather or not she's gonna keep it but…sighs she's hopeless.
