If Miroku had found himself shocked and speechless upon the discovery of his pregnancy, the others gave meaning to the word horrified.
"So she placed a spell on you that did this? Do you think that she could still be in the village somewhere?" Kagome asked as Miroku literally toppled backwards attempting to sit, having not adapted yet to the external weight.
"I don't know if she is; all I know is that I'm in constant pain and craving some of the strangest combinations of food I have ever thought of," he said, resting against the side of the hut as the others continued to stare from his pained expression to the bulging womb of life that had suddenly appeared from him.
"Well, if she still is in the village somewhere then maybe we can reason with her and get you out of this," Kagome started, gently wiping the sweat beads from his forehead when there was a sudden sound of disapproval from behind her.
"I think he got what he deserved, walking up to strange women and asking them to bear his children. No wonder she did this to you Miroku, you probably horrified her, or disgusted her like you always do me whenever I watched you ask that question to girls that are hardly more than children," Sango spat harshly, and though Miroku wasn't in the sort of condition for this verbal punishment, he knew he deserved it. And every word of her argument had been pure fact.
"I think we should go into the village and see if we can find this sorceress. Maybe if you apologize then she'll remove whatever she did to make you pregnant Miroku," Kagome said, but all the monk could do was moan slightly in response, feeling pressure of the secondary being becoming worse, it seemed, with every passing moment.
"My only question is how he's going to give birth when he's a male, unless Kagome left out the part about males also being able to give birth when she was explaining where babies come from," Shippo said curiously from behind Inuyasha, his ears perked up in the air awaiting an answer.
"I've wondered about that myself…" Miroku said, removing his sapphire tunic due to the immense heat of a fever coming on from his condition.
"Oh my…she turned me into a woman as well?!" Miroku suddenly shouted, wrapping his clothes back around his shoulders once more as the others stared in horror at what had once been a masculine body, and now was no longer.
"Well how else did you expect to give birth Miroku? Spit the child out of your mouth when the time is right?" Sango said as Miroku sank back against the wall, suddenly looking horribly depressed all over again. "I'm surprised you aren't happy with this newfound development; now you can fondle and grope yourself all you want without involving me in your disgusting desires."
"C'mon Kagome, if we're going to find that sorceress and get Miroku, or should we now say Miroka, back to normal before he, er she, either goes insane or actually does bear a child, then we have to go now," he said, shoving the miko from the hut with a disgruntled and slightly confused expression as Shippo turned away, looking nauseous from these newest discoveries.
"Who would have thought being turned into some you've always been infatuated with would be such a curse. Now I see why some women were so disgusted with that question; being pregnant hurts like nothing I've ever experienced!" Miroku whined somewhat immaturely, though Sango honestly couldn't blame him. She recalled the days when her own mother had been pregnant for Kohaku, groaning in agony yet happy at the same moment with the coming of her second child. But for Miroku it really was just a curse; the child that may be born of him would simply be a punishment, not a symbol of love or wanted creation.
"If you do manage to give birth, there's going to be a lot to do in order to take care of your child you know," Sango said, and Miroku nodded, now gently rubbing the sore area of his abdomen, still feeling utterly awkward with this new presence within himself.
"What happens if I die giving birth?"
Sango gasped quietly to herself; this had never even occurred to her. Women were naturally developed and taught how to deal with child bearing and how to deal with the pain and changes, but Miroku had been a male up until this point; he had no idea of what was to come, or how to deal with it.
"You won't Miroku; I'm going to help you get through this, even if I still think you deserve it for being uncaring of the fates of all those women whom you asked to do the same for you."
"I understand. Thank you Sango," Miroku said quietly, and Sango believed it was perhaps some of the few genuine words he had spoken to her, not laced with some unwanted innuendo or worry of a coming struggle.
'I just hope he manages to pull through it. I don't think I could watch someone else die during such a time yet again…'