DISCLAIMER: I own nothing... yet!
This Fanfic was on here previously, but due to some glitches, hiccups and burps, it fell off. (Ouch!) So, I am re-posting it! (Hooray!) So if you say to yourself, "Self, this looks familiar." don't be surprised when self answers back, "Well, duh! Did you not read the blurb under the disclaimer?" (I am assuming af course, that everyone is like me and has these kinds of internal arguments...)
CHAPTER 1: THE INCREDIBLE, EDIBLE EGG
Inuyasha stood at the opening of the well and waited impatiently for Kagome to return. He'd promised her that he wouldn't come to pick her up this time and in return, she swore she would only be gone for two days.
The wait was killing him.
"Maa! Why's she taking so long?" He growled and paced around the well. Shippo, who sat on the edge also watching for her, stared at Inuyasha with a glazed look.
"Sheesh, Inuyasha. It's barely morning! She said she'd come back in two days."
"AND IT'S BEEN TWO DAYS!" he snarled out.
Miroku sighed deeply and gave Inuyasha a patient look. "Perhaps you should give her two FULL days."
"Wah- oh." The cranky hanyou had the decency to look somewhat repentant. But even that didn't last long.
"Then I'm gonna go and kill something!" he jumped off towards the cover of trees, a devilish grin on his lips as he looked for some random Youki to slaughter.
Sango gave a deep sigh and leaned back against a moss covered rock. "He is an energetic one. I'm dying for a rest."
Miroku yawned and stretched his aching muscles, then flopped down next to the exterminator, almost groaning with delight as the soft grass at his back cushioned him.
"I for one enjoy these little reprieves we get when she goes home. It's the only time we get to rest!"
"Inuyasha doesn't seem to slow down at all." Sango agreed. "I wonder sometimes if Kagome doesn't go home every now and again to unwind herself."
"Well, if you want any relax time, I suggest you get on with it." Shippo warned sagely. "It won't be long and Inuyasha will come back, cranky and pacing the well wondering why she's not returned yet."
"Mmm." Both Sango and Miroku shared a look of agreement, then relaxed and closed their eyes. It wasn't long before they were both asleep.
Shippo pulled out one of his many fox toys and sat down next to Kirara. "We'll keep watch, Kirara." He instructed, then spun the top and tossed her a ball.
"Phew!" Kirara agreed happily and dove at the globed toy.
Kagome sat at her school desk, a huge sigh of reliefescaping her as the test were collected.
'I don't think I did too bad, considering I've missed almost the entire semester.'
She would have enough time when she got out of school to shop for supplies, go home and grab a quick bath and dinner with her family, then it was back into the well. She knew if she was a second past sunset, Inuyasha would pop a major artery and destroy something.
She gave a heavy sigh and wondered again why she put up with it.
"Alright class. Now that we've completed the test, it's time to discuss our next terms big project."
Kagome pulled herself back to the present and concentrated on the teachers instruction.
"We will be discussing child development and parenting. Your project will be to carry around an egg for two weeks, which you will name and care for as if it were a real baby."
Kagome felt her mouth drop open.
"Haaaaaaa..."
"You are to take your egg with you wherever you go. If you must leave your egg, you are to find a babysitter to care for it. Treat the egg like a real child. Keep a diary of your time with the egg."
'You must be joking... I have to carry around a raw egg and keep it safe while in Inuyasha's time?' Kagome slumped in defeat. 'A test would be easier!'
"Take great care in not breaking your eggs! If you loose it, break it or boil it, " the teacher gave all the class a stern look. "It will be an automatic failure. This project counts for ALL of this semesters grades."
"GAHH!" Kagome fell out of her chair. 'ALL THE GRADE?'
"Kagome?" her friend Ayumi whispered in concern. "Are you alright?"
"I'm doomed!" Kagome moaned as she dragged herself back up to her chair then face faulted onto her desktop. "I have a hard enough time protecting the shards. Now I'll have to watch over an...egg."
Ayumi gave her a strange look. "What are you talking about?"
Kagome held out her hand as the teacher deposited a extra large white chicken egg with a special mark on it into her hands.
"Nothing..." she muttered.
"What are you going to name it?" Sota peeked over the soft pillow that the egg lay upon, watching it with mild interest as Kagome packed for her return through the well.
"I don't' know." she answered with a weary sigh. "I'm half tempted to just leave it here and let mama take care of it for me."
She had a sudden feeling of guilt over abandoning it, as if she was somehow leaving a real child behind and discarding it.
'This is just ridiculous! It's an egg for Pity sake!' she scolded herself. But the feeling stayed. 'What kind of mother would just go off and leave her child? Mom would never have done such a thing.'
The stupidity of her own logic hit her all at once.
'That's because Sota and I aren't eggs.'
"I think you should take it with you, nee-chan!" Sota commented excitedly. "It will be a good way to see what sort of father Inu-no-nii-chan is."
Kagome dropped the cup-o-noddles she had been about to stuff in the pack and gave her little brother a look of shock.
"Sota, what are you babbling about?" she felt the creep of a blush making it's way up her face. "Inuyasha will think the whole thing is dumb and probably add the thing to his food." she grumbled, suddenly angry with the hanyou for being insensitive to such things.
Sota watched his sister's expression grow dark. "I-I think he'd be a good father." he insisted. "You should at least give him a chance."
Kagome stared at the egg for a few moments, considering his words. "Well, it's not like I have much choice. If I'm ever going to get this egg back in one piece, I'm going to need his help."
"So what are you going to call it?" Sota asked again.
Kagome shrugged. "Don't know. What do you think I should name it? You're the uncle, after all." she teased affectionately.
He scrunched up his nose in deep thought. "Sukoshi Takara!" he proclaimed happily, pleased with himself.
"'Little Treasure', huh?" she laughed, then gently took the egg and wrapped it up a few times with batting and cloth.
"Mmm." Sota nodded. "That or Bob."
Inuyasha returned to well just as the sun was about to dip down over the mountainside. Everyone was asleep. And Kagome was still no where to be found.
"Dammit!" he swore softly, going to stand over the well again.
"If she doesn't come soon, I'm going after her." he grumbled. He wouldn't be breaking his promise. She'd promised to be back in two days time and she was going to be breaking HER end of the bargain if she didn't show up soon.
Just as the thought finished, a bright flash lit the well.
"Finally!" he grumbled, then dove down to give her a hand with her backpack.
Kagome watched him cover the opening, then dive down towards her. She gave him a light smile and clutched the egg closer to her chest. He came to stand beside her, an irritated but happy look on his face.
"Oi, what the hell took so long?" he grumbled, then gently reached for her pack. She let it go without complaint, glad to have the heavy thing off her back. He settled it on his shoulder, then linked his arm around her waist and prepared to take them both out of the well.
That was when he noticed her clutching something to her chest.
"What cha got there?" he asked curiously, bending at the knees for his jump.
"My baby." she answered, just as he leapt.
"WAHHHHHH!" he was taking off guard and off balance and they were suddenly heading straight into the wall of the well.
"INUYASHA! THE WALL!" Kagome curled her body up, hugging the egg closer and tensing up for the impact, but Inuyasha took the brunt of it and they both went plunging back down to the bottom of the well. Kagome let out a screech and Inuyasha positioned himself again to take the main impact, which left Kagome landing on his chest and stomach, both she and the precious cargo in her hands coming to rest with a cushioned jolt.
"Inuyasha! Are you alright!" She jumped up and looked down at the poor hanyou, who was not only out of air from the impact he'd suffered, but also from the news she'd just shared. He twitched a bit, still not answering her.
'What the hell does she mean HER BABY!' he thought wildly.
"Kagome! Is that you?" Shippo called down.
"Oi, Kagome! How was your trip home?" Miroku called out congenially.
"Are you two alright?" Sango asked, seeming to be the only one to notice the state they were in.
"I-I think so." Kagome called back warily, then turned back to check on Inuyasha. "Are you alright?"
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN, 'YOUR BABY!" He shouted angrily then sprang to his feet. He was suddenly nose to nose with her and seething with anger.
"In-u-ya-sha..." she warned, her own eyes narrowing. He didn't care.
"And just who the hell is the father?" He demanded., not really caring if she sat him or not. He was shocked. And VERY hurt. "It's that filthy ass, Honky-jun, isn't it!"
"His name is Hojokun, and NO it's isn't his!"
Kagome felt her temper rising as well. Of all the ridiculous things!
"Well then who-"
"A chicken!" she shouted. Inuyasha blinked.
Miroku's shocked voice reached them.
"How on earth could that be? The dynamics of it alone are impossible..." the sound of Sango's hand slapping against his head echoed through the well.
"A-a chicken?" Inuyasha gave her a puzzled look. "What the hell are you talking about? You don't lay eggs!"
"If we could just get up to the top of this well, I would be more than happy to explain everything." she muttered. The splitting headache that was forming behind her eyes was not helping matters at all.
"Fine." he growled. "But I'm finding the bastard who left you with his kid. That just ain't right." he picked up the bag and Kagome and leapt out of the well.
'That was somehow very... sweet of him to say.' Kagome thought.
"We've got enough to worry about without having a baby to watch out for."
'I take it back.' She thought angrily. "Inuyasha, you BAKA NE!"
"WHAT!" he shouted back.
"Welcome home Kagome!" Shippo cried happily and launched himself at her. Inuyasha caught him in mid air by the tail.
"Oi, watch out for the baby, kid." he scolded, then set the confused fox child on the ground.
"Baby?" Sango stared at her friend in shock. "K-Kagome! You found a baby?"
Miroku grabbed hold of Inuyasha's hand and started pumping it in earnest, wiping at a tear on his cheek.
"Congratulations, old man! I never had a clue you'd gone that far." he suddenly yanked the shocked hanyou closer and whispered behind his hand, "how'd you get her to do it?."
"SHADAP!" Inuyasha glomped the henti monk on the head. "We didn't do that!"
"Oh for pity sake!" Kagome let out a deep sigh and unwrapped the egg. "It's for my school. It's this semesters class project. I'm supposed to carry this egg around and treat it like my own child." She held the white object up, the light of the setting sun causing the white shell to almost glow.
"Awe..." they all said as one.
Clearly, none of them had a clue how to respond.
"That's just stupid." Inuyasha grumbled, secretly relieved that it wasn't a real baby and that there wasn't another man.
"Yes, well. Stupid or not, this will be my grade for this semester. I can't let ANYTHING happen to this egg!" she emphasized.
"Why don't' you just boil it?" Sango suggested.
"Can't. If it's boiled, it will be an automatic failing grade."
"And just what sort of test are they going to give you on some stupid egg?" Inuyasha grumbled.
"There won't be any test. I just have to hand in the egg and my diary on it, then I'll be done."
All Inuyasha heard was, 'there won't be any test.' It thrilled him. That would mean she wouldn't have to go away for days on end. He was suddenly willing to help out.
"So what are we supposed to do? Burp the thing? Sing it to sleep?"
"Oh dear!" Miroku sighed. "He's cracked." he peeked a looked from his shut eye to see if anyone had caught on to his little joke and found them all staring at him with unamused expressions.
"Funny." Shippo grumbled.
They made their way to Kaede's hut, Kagome explaining her project while they all took turns holding the egg.
"Have you named it yet?" Shippo asked in excitement. It sounded like a fun game to him.
"No. Sota wanted to call it 'Little Treasure' or 'Bob', but nothing has been decided."
Sango wrinkled her nose and gave her a skeptical look. "Bob?"
Kagome blushed and waved her hand dismissively. "It was just for fun!" she replied with a breathy laugh.
"So it's a boy?" Miroku concluded.
"...Uhhhh..." Kagome gave him a blank look.
"If she calls it 'Bob', then it is." Shippo remarked.
"True," Miroku conceded. "But she just said that 'Bob' was only a joke."
"So you could give it a girls name." Sango decided.
"How do you tell if an egg is a boy or a girl?" Shippo wondered.
"Phew!" Kirara leapt onto Sango's shoulder and batted at the egg with her tiny paw.
"Careful, Kirara." Sango warned. "This is Kagome's precious treasure. We musn't break it."
"Phew." the little fire cat curled up and purred into it's mistresses neck, content to ignore the egg again.
"Well, I can't think of a single thing to name it." Miroku decided at last. "Might as well just call it 'egg' and be done with it."
"You can't just call it 'egg!'" Shippo protested. "It's her baby!"
"What would YOU name it then?" The monk demanded.
"...ummmmm..." he came up blank.
"So I thought."
Kagome let out a sad sigh and stared at the egg. If she didn't come up with something soon, the thing would have to be called 'Bob' after all.
Inuyasha watched the dejected look come over her face and frowned. This whole thing seemed to mean a lot to her. If naming the stupid egg would cheer her up, he decided he'd help out.
"Oi, Kagome." He said softly, a light blush coming over his cheeks.
"Mm?" She looked up at him as they continued walking side by side, ignoring the arguing of the others.
"Why don't you call it 'Aiko'?" he suggested softly.
She stared up at him in astonishment, then smiled softly.
"Aiko is lovely. Where did you hear that name?" she asked gently, hoping he wouldn't close himself off from her now.
"Gah..." he gave a half hearted protest. "It's just a name I've always figured might be nice for a little girl... that's all."
"I think it's perfect. Thank you Inuyasha." she smiled up at him, happy that he would open up to her in such a way.
And so the egg had a name. It was called 'Beloved.'
AWE! Inuyasha is a daddy!... kinda... warped, no?
Next chapter: Death of a ding dong! just joking... man, I am on one...