Disclaimer: OH no! Giant mutant kung-fu panda zombie warriors are guarding all the major entrances! Run for your lives!

Chapter 45: Oyaji

InuYasha lightly grazed his claws across Kagome's stomach as she slept at his side. Her skin was already tightening slightly with the pups growth. He hadn't noticed it before, he hadn't even noticed the small change in her scent. Between being killed, resurrected, almost losing Kagome several times, making Kagome his mate, and fighting that baka Suoh, he guessed he just kind of didn't take the time to notice the changes. His miko was going to have his pup. When he first heard those words from her, a flood of emotions instantly hit him. Anger because Kagome didn't tell him and put herself in danger, furious that he didn't figure it out in the first place, happy because him and Kagome were going to have a pup and Kagome wasn't freaked out by it.

He told Kagome he wanted a male pup, but really he could care less what it was. Having a mini Kagome running around wasn't such a bad picture after all, but with his strength and her mother's good looks, if it was a female InuYasha was going to seal her in a hut as soon as she reached adolescence to keep prying hentai eyes away from her. Yep. In the matter of a few short months InuYasha was going to be Otousan and Kagome was going to be Okaasan. InuYasha yawned and pulled Kagome tighter against his chest. The only thing he wasn't looking forward to was telling that lecher monk. Who knew what that baka would have to say about Kagome's condition. InuYasha was serious about ripping Miroku limb from limb if he caused his mate discomfort with his stupid antics.

Then worry spread over him. Kagome was a human, a young human at that, and she was going to have a hanyou pup. A pregnancy like that was dangerous enough without her being so young. He'd just have to monitor her more closely, keep her at arms length at all times. He smirked. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all. InuYasha nuzzled into Kagome's hair as he gave a final yawn and fell asleep.

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SLAP! InuYasha jumped up off the futon, on his feet in a matter of moments, the side of his face throbbing with a red handprint clear across it. He looked down to see Kagome was still sleeping, a smug grin on her face. "Stupid wench." He grumbled, rubbing his sore cheek. "Slapping me in her sleep all the time, I oughta tie her hands down to her side next time. See if she slaps me then!" His stomach growled. After Kagome had gotten sick last night, he had forgotten to eat anything himself. He looked over Kagome one last time to make sure she was still sound asleep, then made his way down the stairs into the main room.

"My Lord," InuYasha stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Sesshomaru and the inu Haru were in the room. "keeping a human and a hanyou here is a disgrace to our entire heritage. Surely you would prefer them dead now that they have gotten that dragon-youkai out of your lands."

"As I've stated before in this matter, Haru, my half-brother InuYasha and the miko are to be left alone. If you see you cannot obey this simple command, you shall no longer be accepted by this tribe" Sesshomaru stated with his usual uncaring tone.

"But that human is carrying the half-breed's pup! It is already a disgrace that your father defiled our line of nobility by mating a human after your mother's death, but now you are allowing that…that filthy being to further it by mating with yet another human! And then letting them stay in the castle as they please! No, I refuse to accept it! I refuse to allow our tribe to be dragged down by a human and a half-breed mutt!"

"Then this tribe no longer accepts you." Sesshomaru raised his hand and pointed toward the front doors. "See yourself out before I show it to you."

The inu's eyes went wide as the shock of being thrown out of the tribe set in. Then his eyes narrowed and he snarled at the Inu Lord. "You will live to regret this, Sesshomaru. Believe me." With that final threat, Haru stormed out the entrance. Sesshomaru turned his gaze to InuYasha, who had stepped out into the room.

"What was that all about?" he asked.

"Nothing that concerns you." Sesshomaru stated, turning away. "Help yourself to anything, then leave. Your welcome has almost worn."

InuYasha watched as his brother disappeared down one of the corridors and shrugged his shoulders. If he hadn't known better, he would have been sure Sesshomaru was sticking up for him, but then again it was probably just because Haru disobeyed his commands. InuYasha gobbled up all the meat one of the servants had cooked for him before grabbing a few non-smelly foods for Kagome and heading back up the stairs. He couldn't help the smirk that appeared on his face. Kagome had his haori covering her head with her hands on top, and her feet sticking out from under the blanket at the bottom. I swear that wench needs to learn how to stay still.

He put the food down and walked over to the miko. "Inu-Yasha?" she was mumbling in her sleep again. He stiffened. Oh, no… don't say it, don't you dare… "s-i-t…" InuYasha crossed his arms in front of him before being pulled face-first into the stone floor. Needs to wear a gag to bed, too. He thought grimly. When the subduing spell finally wore off he sat on his haunches and rubbed his forehead. I gotta talk to her about removing this thing. I'm her mate now, the stupid wench. She can't keep 'sit'ing me like a freakin dog!

"InuYasha? What's wrong with you?" Kagome sat up and turned so she was facing InuYasha, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"Keh. Nothing. Hurry up and eat. The faster we get away from here, the better."

"I'm still sleepy."

"And you should be, using up all that energy yesterday while you're carrying a pup. Even you should have known better than that."

Kagome smiled and playfully pushed on his shoulder. "Baka. Next time I'll just leave your sorry butt to bleed to death." He pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arm around her stomach. Kagome leaned back and kissed him on the cheek before taking a bite out of the fruit. "Kaede said I'm due in about four months. That's not very long away."

"Has to be like that for youkai. The shorter the pregnancy the better, that way the female isn't vulnerable longer than she has to be. You ready?"

"Yea. I'm ready to get home and take a nice long soak in the hot springs. I feel like I have an inch of dirt coving me." She curled her lip at the thought.

InuYasha smiled at how she was calling the village home now. He picked her up in his arms and took her outside the castle. Kirara and Rin where playing out in the garden. "Oi, Kirara! We're leaving!" the fire cat mewed and transformed into it's larger state.

"Do you have to leave so soon, Lady Kagome, Master InuYasha?" Rin patted Kirara's side with a sad gaze.

"We've got to get back home now, Rin. I promise to come visit you again, and maybe you could come visit us at the village, okay?"

The little girl smiled and nodded her head. "I'm sure Lord Sesshomaru wouldn't mind one bit if you came back, though he would never say as much."

"Rin. That is quite enough. Go inside the castle, now." She nodded and gave Kirara a final pat before going inside. "You are to leave now, InuYasha. And do not think that you are welcome at our family's home just because I let you stay this time."

"Of course not." InuYasha placed Kagome on Kirara's back before hoisting himself up on the fire cat. "Come on, Kirara, let's get out of here."

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Shippou grabbed a small blanket off of Kagome's bed, laying it flat out on the floor of the hut. He grabbed all the food he had gathered, and one of Kagome's bottles he had refilled with water from the stream and placed it in the center of the blanket, folding the corners into a make-shift sack.

"Planning on leaving us, Shippou?" the kit jumped at the sound of Miroku's voice from the entrance of the hut.

He fidgeted with his fingers in front of him. "I was just- I was just going to go bring Kagome and InuYasha back home. That baka's taking too long to come back."

Miroku sighed and rubbed his temple with one hand. Three weeks and still no sign of the hanyou and miko was leaving everyone a little more than worried. "Shippou, I'm going to be honest with you. We don't know when InuYasha and Kagome are returning, or" he gulped, "or if they will return, but you are to stay here with us. Kagome would never forgive us if something were to happen to you."

"But…"

"No buts, Shippou. If InuYasha were here…"

"Oi, monk, he is here." InuYasha was standing at the end of the path, holding a sleeping Kagome in his arms. The monk and Kitsune both jumped in surprise. "What are you two gawking at? Move out of the way!" Miroku moved to the side, allowing the hanyou entrance to lay Kagome down on her bed.

"Kagome!" Shippou jumped up on the bed next to her and snuggled to her side.

"Careful you little runt! What did I tell you about jumping on her?" the kit just nuzzled further under Kagome's arm and stayed there. InuYasha growled, but allowed it for the time being. It was obvious he had missed her.

"InuYasha, where have you been? Where's Suoh? Is Kagome alright?"

"Keh. Suoh's dead. He won't be bothering us anymore, and Kagome's fine, just a bit tired." He turned and threw an accusing glare to the monk. "And I thought I told you to keep her here at all costs. What do you do! Let the wench follow me on Kirara!"

"Now, InuYasha, I didn't exactly allow Kagome to leave. She can have a stubborn streak just about as bad as you at times."

"And it wasn't his fault anyway." Kagome yawned, holding the kitsune tight in her arms. "I was going to leave no matter what I had to do, baka, which reminds me that as soon as I feel better, I'm going to say 'it' so many times it'll take you a week just to dig yourself out of the crater." InuYasha cringed, but made his way to sit beside her on the bed.

"Kagome! You're back!" Sango ran in with Mai in her arms followed by the fire cat. "Are you okay? What happened?" she made a reach to hug her friend only to be stopped by a growling hanyou.

Kagome rolled her eyes and pushed him backwards on the bed. "You are not going to start this again, InuYasha."

"Kagome…" he warned.

"InuYasha…" she mimicked, then sighed. "What is Sango going to do, hm? Hug me to death?"

"No, but she can hurt you without knowing it, wench, and I'm not risking anything else."

Kagome looked at him apologetically and blushed. "Oh. Right. I almost forgot about that." She nervously chewed on her bottom lip as InuYasha moved the kitsune from her arms and wrapped his around her.

"Kagome!" he wined with outstretched arms. One glare from the hanyou and he quieted down. Shippou crossed his arms in front of him in a very InuYasha-like manner. "If Kagome's alright then why does she smell so different?

Miroku cocked his eyebrow. "What kind of smell does she have, Shippou?"

"Well, she still smells like herself and InuYasha," he wrinkled his nose, "but there's something else there, too, but I've never smelt that scent before."

Miroku looked as though he were thinking of what the kitsune had said before a lecherous grin spread wide over his face. "Ah. Another 'scent'. That makes ahem, perfect sense." Sango seemed to have gotten the hint and tried to suppress a laugh unsuccessfully. "It seems we many have another hanyou running around soon."

"What's that suppose to mean, Miroku?" Shippou asked innocently.

"It means Kagome's having a pup, you runt! So there's gonna be no more of that jumping around and being carried by her, you got that?" InuYasha all but growled out at the little kit.

"So, InuYasha." Miroku still carried his lecherous grin. "A, um… pup. Congratulations. Though I might say, it does come to be quiet a shock. Why, I wasn't sure if you and Kagome had even…"

"Watch it monk, I'm not in that good of a mood today and you don't want to finish that thought. What are all of you doing in my hut anyway?"

"Shippou went missing, and after figuring out he wasn't in the village or with Sango or Kaede, there was only one other place I could imagine he went. As it turned out, I was right. I found him packing his things to go on his own mission to find the two of you." Shippou ran behind Sango when InuYasha looked his way. So the kit was gonna come after us on his own, was he? Got more guts than I thought.

InuYasha stood and walked toward the entrance, pulling back the bamboo curtain before turning back to face the kit. "Oi, get out here runt. It's about time we have a little talk."

"I couldn't help it, baka! You were taking too long and I wanted Kagome back!" he argued back.

"I said out, runt!" Shippou looked to Kagome, who silently nodded her approval. He sighed and eased out behind the hanyou. InuYasha walked out and motioned for the kitsune to follow him. He led him down the path until they reached the edge of the forest, then sat down and motioned Shippou to do the same. "You thought you would go out on your own, in Sesshomaru's territory, with that lunatic Suoh on the loose, just to find Kagome and me and bring us back to the village?"

Shippou nodded as his eyes began to water, his face covered in a hint of anger. "I don't want to lose anyone else, baka! I had to at least try to find you. I know I'm just a kid, but that doesn't mean I worthless you know." Shippou winced when the hanyou raised a clawed hand over him, but was shocked when all InuYasha did was ruffle his hair. "What was that for!"

"You know runt, I think you're finally starting to grow up." Shippou poked out his chest with pride. "Kagome wanted to know if you would like me to add a room to the hut. After the pup is born, she might be needing your help around a lot more. Do you think you could handle that?"

Shippou hopped up on his shoulder and crossed his arms. "Yep! Us youkai have to look after them, you know. After all they are just pathetic humans."

InuYasha smirked. "Sure are. But you can't go jumping in her arms and riding her shoulder anymore, you're too old and heavy for that now. And you are not sleeping in our bed, either. You're gonna stay in your own room as soon as it's finished, got that runt!" He nodded his head and jumped down.

"Since Kagome's gonna have a pup, am I gonna be Oniisan (older brother)?"

"Guess so. Now go see if your new Okaasan (mother) wants anything to eat."

"Alright!" he started off to the hut, then stopped and turned back around. "Since Kagome is gonna be my Okaasan, does that mean you're gonna be my Oyaji (old man)?"

InuYasha's face turned a new shade of red before he broke into a run after the kit. Shippou made a mad dash and ran behind Kagome. "Okaasan! Okaasan! He's going to kill me!" Kagome's face turned a little pink at her new title from the kit. Miroku and Sango both looked at each other and smiled.

"InuYasha, what are you up to now?" she asked with annoyance in her tone. "We just got back and you're already chasing Shippou like some kind of maniac."

"Just like the little runt said, I'm gonna kill him!" he made a swift move to grab Shippou.

"Sit." THUMP! InuYasha hit the floor. "Now, why are you trying to kill Shippou this time?" InuYasha waited for the spell to subside before lifting his head to look at his mate. She glared back waiting for his answer. "Well? What did he do?"

The hanyou blushed a crimson red. "The kit called me Oyaji, that's what! Freakin kit needs to learn some respect and I'm gonna thump it into him!" The three humans looked at each other, then felt out one the floor laughing. "Oi! What's so funny!"

"Inu-yasha…" Kagome gasped out between laughs. "He-he's just… just a kid."

"Keh!" He turned his back a faced the wall, a small grin creeping onto his face.

A/N:

One chapter and the epilogue left, and that's it for this story. Sorry guys, but it has to end somewhere. If you're really nice, I just might make a sequel. I'm defiantly going to do another fic, just not right now.