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Putting out a cigarette, she held the large coat tightly against her small frame, rubbing her cold hands together. Cursing, she leaned against the streetlamp. Closing her eyes, she waited. The streetlamp above her was broken, but was hardly missed, with the multiple lights coming from the buildings looming above. No stars had made themselves known in the sky- it was far too bright and the air was far too polluted.

Cursing again, she slid down to the cold wet sidewalk, rubbing her legs, which were exposed to the cold winter air. Her thighs were barely covered by a bright red pleather skirt, ridiculously high-heeled shoes on her feet, and a ridiculous amount of make-up covering her face.

Call it an "employee uniform."

Sighing, she wished to herself that her client cancelled. She assessed leaving her post, but quickly pushed away the thought, no matter how tempting it was. The thought continued to rise throughout the hours she stood there, constantly looking down to make sure her toes were still there and hadn't fallen off in the freezing weather. Giving up, she walked off the curb and between parked cars, looking to the left, and then to the right. 'No cars left, no cars right. Home free.'

Returning to the sidewalk, she scurried around the corner, only to bump into something hard. She sprawled backwards onto the wet sidewalk. She muttered several obscene phrases, and then glared up at what had obstructed her escape.

"You know, it's called side-walk for a reason. You should watch where you're going."

It was a man. Dressed in a gray business suit, sharp eyes glared back at hers, as if he had been the one wronged by the split second encounter. Before she knew it, he was already down the street and heading towards an expensive apartment on the far end. Cursing for the umpteenth time that night. She stood up and dusted herself off. She looked back towards the street. A slick black car made its way down the dirty street. Her car. Holding down her trembling fingers, hercrimson eyes looked back at the man in the gray suit, who had just went into apartment building, and decided something to herself. 'He is right at the top of my "kill" list.

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Session Twenty-Eight: Turning Corners

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The day had started out well enough.

'What the hell did I do to deserve this?' Kagura screamed again as another wave of pain hit her, hand clutching her pregnant stomach for dear life, ignoring the words of doctors and surgeons crowded around her.

"What is wrong with her?" It was Sesshoumaru's voice, strong and firm as he walked next to her as they rolled her through the emergency room.

"She appears to be going into labor," Sango replied, "how far along is she?"

"That's impossible," said Sesshoumaru, "she's barely seven months along."

"It's actually very common," Sango grabbed the woman's hand, "a twelfth of all children born are born premature. Kagura's contraction's are still in a safe range, so we can still try to delay birth."

Kagura let out another scream, squeezing the doctor's hand for dear life as another contraction hit her. "Why the hell is this happening to me?"

"Don't worry, everything's going to be fine," Sango replied, "we're going to try to delay birth for as long as possible. When she gives birth we'll have all precautions ready. Are you coming in with her?"

He nodded a no, letting them wheel her off into the next room.

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An hour later, Sango returned from the maternity ward.

"She delivered," Sango announced, entering the waiting room.

"I thought you were going to try to delay birth," said Sesshoumaru.

She smiled. "I couldn't stop that baby from coming with anything I could give her. He's stubborn one- in fact, he looks just like you."

"When will we get to see them?" Rin asked.

"Well, the child is under observation, so it may be a few hours. You can see Kagura now, but she doesn't seem in the mood for visitors. She broke quite a bit of equipment during labor, and kicked one of the doctors in the face. Whether it was on purpose or by accident, I'm not entirely sure. Other than that, the birth went smoothly. It was my first time performing a delivery."

Sesshoumaru nodded, rising form his chair and heading down the maternity ward.

XX

"What would we tell him?"

Sesshoumaru looked up, studying her for a moment. She still kept her head turned away from him, choosing to stare at her now flattened stomach. It was almost funny; just a few hours before she wanted to drop that load and regain her figure. Now, without it, she felt surprising empty.

"What?"

"Every child asks how their parents met sooner or later. It would seem wrong to tell him the truth."

He watched her from across the room, tangled in sheets and covered in sweat from a difficult labor. Her small form was hunched over, head bowed down as she stared at her abdomen. Hair covered the majority of her face, but didn't completely hide her from his eyes, for he could see that her face, usually covered in a layer of make-up, was now completely bare. Suddenly, she seemed so much younger, like the barely-legal young woman she was. The barrier her ego and her pride had built had washed away, replaced by a demeanor he never thought he'd see on her…

Shame.

XX

He squinted his eyes as they came in contact with the morning sun. The snow was quickly melting from last night, pushed against the curb and coated with an ugly brown filth. It reminded him of how much he hated this city- it was nothing but filth. Ignorance, crime, conspiracy- the lowest forms of humanity thrived here.

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft tug at his sleeve. He looked down at a little girl of no more than ten. Her brown hair was tied into pigtails with numerous clips and barrettes, dressed in her Sunday best. He silent knew that his daughter wouldn't stay clean for long as she cast a toothless smile his way. A small hand wrapped around his index finger as she walked with him across the street, her short legs hurrying to keep up with his long strides. She jumped into the back seat of his car, waiting patiently as her father went around the other car. She watched as he suddenly jumped back.

He muttered a curse to himself. A young woman lay against the sidewalk, her clothes torn and so were a few good areas of skin. She looked as if she had been beaten more than a few times as she lay crumpled, unconscious. Without a second thought he lifted the young woman up. "Rin, get out of the car."

XX

Sesshoumaru abruptly stood up, walking towards her bed. Staring down at her, Kagura could feel his intense stare on her, something that never ceased to bother her. Still, Kagura kept her eyes on her stomach, wishing she was never with child, wishing she had never met Sesshoumaru, wishing she had never stood on that corner to begin with.

But that thought only made her feel even more empty. Like or not, he and Rin were now her everything. Rin's never-ending state of euphoria, Sesshoumaru's never-ending state of distance from the rest of the world.

"I could a pretty good mother, but, no, I screw up my baby's life before he's even supposed to be born," Kagura said softly.

He grasped her chin, tilting her head so that she was looking at him. "Kenichi will be fine."

Raising an eyebrow, she asked, "Kenichi?"

"Strong one," he stated, "now, there is something I have been meaning to ask you. That night… why were you out there?"

"… A girl's gotta eat," she whispered, "that was my first and last night I ever did something like that… I said no."

A pregnant silence passed between the two.

"You know," Kagura began, "you didn't answer my question."

"And what's that?"

"What are we going to tell him when he gets older? I mean, we aren't married, I was on a hooker, and he was conceived… during an argument, I believe."

"Do you expect me to answer that?"

Sighing, she gave a light shrug. "No, I guess not. I don't expect anything from you." Slowly, she started to stand, only to be forced back down by a strong hand on her shoulder.

"What are you doing?"

"Going to see my kid!" Kagura snapped, "Where is he?"

"You're in no position to be moving around at the moment," Sesshoumaru replied calmly, "I'll go find him."

She scoffed as he silently left the room. Absentmindedly, she picked at the IV cord going into the back of her hand, frowning. 'What am I going to do?'

"Why did I stay?" Kagura whispered to herself. She could've left at any time, she going to her life, him going back to his. Instead, she stayed and attempted to pursue him- not out of love, but because he had been the first to refuse her. 'That, plus he's gorgeous.'

He was gorgeous, he was dangerous, he was intelligent, but that wasn't why she had wanted him. She had wanted him because Sesshoumaru was someone she didn't have to love. He didn't love her, and she had no feelings for him- neither of them weren't those kind of people to fall for each other. They weren't lucky enough to ever experience unrequited love, to ever miss someone, to ever know heartbreak, to ever be rendered incapable of ever loving someone again.

Then again, maybe they were the lucky ones.

But that was seven months ago. Seven months ago, she could've came and went as she please, seven months ago she was free spirit, seven months ago she wasn't carrying his child.

Seven months ago, she wasn't a mother.

XX

Rin smiled through the glass. "C'mon, your father's rich and your mother's gorgeous. Smile."

"Rin."

The young girl turned from the glass window. "Sesshoumaru, there he is. Dr. Sango said he's perfectly healthy. We can take him home in couple of days."

He nodded, turning his attention though the glass window to the nursery. His eyes scanned the array of pink and baby blue- second row to the left, wrapped in the traditional blue blanket. Unlike the other newborns, which were either crying or sleeping, little Kenichi was silent, eyes discovering his surroundings.

It wasn't until the infant's eyes met his did anything actually faze him.

Those eyes that matched his own, those eyes that he had created. They didn't know sin, contempt, or grief. They didn't know fear, admiration, or joy. He knew nothing of anything, waiting to be taught… waiting to be taught by him.

Sesshoumaru held his son in arms- when he had retrieved him, he wasn't sure. He carried him down the florescent-lit hallway, practically hearing a 'Who's my little badass?' from Kagura when she saw her child. "Come, Rin."

Rin nodded. "Of course…" she replied softly, "…Father."

If he had heard her, he made no acknowledgement of it. So many thoughts swam through his mind, but one stood out the most: "What are we going to tell him when he gets older? I mean, we aren't married…"

'Then we'll just have to get married,' he responded to himself.

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After recent manga chapters, I could practically hear the Sess/Kagura fans saying: "HA! Told ya so!" --; The flashback scenes of this chapter are from a short story I made in Creative writing a few months ago. It was based off of Sesshoumaru and Kagura. Because of this, I had to up the rating. Good news: less chance of getting deleted. Bad News: I lost all my C2 endorsements.

Since they'll be only three chapter's left I wanted to tell you a few unique/weird things about myself:

1. My birthday's on Wednesday (I'm turning fifteen, just so you know.)

2. I was born on Friday the Thirteenth.

3. I'm left-handed. (The true "pencil-pushers")

4. Lemon fics make me laugh (not that I read them or anything…)

5. With the proper glasses, I could look like Liberty from Degrassi (only I'm prettier. No, really.).

6. I'm good at anything but the best at nothing (part of the growing majority)

7. I've recently lost thirty pounds (Size sixteen to size twelve)

8. I work at a gynecologists' office (never explain that sort of thing to a boy)

9. I've forgotten about half the things I was going to put on this list --;

And in response to a question about the last chapter, when it comes to donations of organs, it doesn't seem to matter age, size, or even species difference. Unless it's a middle-aged man's heart going into an infant, size doesn't matter- they just grow into it.

Next Chapter:

"There are some lessons that you'll never learn…"

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Posted 7/11/05

By Lyn713