Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha? Really? Okay, okay, fine, I do not own Inuyasha. Happy now?

Note: (Kneeling on the floor, sobbing with both hands covering face in shame) Sorry! Sorry! I'm guilty of not updating this story for five months and a few weeks! But I've wasted my entire vacation doing nothing except watching animes and taking plenty of naps… Now that college begins again… NO! But I can't help it… Sorry for the long wait…

Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! So, enjoy this new chappie!

The Obscure Truth

Chapter 6

A Good News, A Bad Presumption

Kagome invited Ayame into the house. She went and prepared the tea for their guest, but Inuyasha went back into their room once they got back, totally ignoring the guest. Ayame sat at the table staring outside into the yard when Miroku along with Sango passed by. They were talking and laughing together like the happiest couple in the whole world. Miroku even had his hand on Sango's shoulder. Ayame looked at them, both hoping Kouga and she could be more like them, and also a bit envious of the sweet relationship Miroku and Sango shared.

When Sango spotted Ayame glancing at them sitting at the table, she blushed a little and stood a little farther from Miroku. It wasn't appropriate to act so close with a man in front of others, that was what she had been taught ever since she was a little girl. Miroku, on the other hand, frowned and walked closer to Sango, attempting to put his hand back on her shoulder and escort her back to her room.

"Miroku! Stop it. We have a guest." Sango whispered a bit harsher than her normal tone. She then put up a smile and walked over to greet Ayame. "Hi Ayame. Why are you here at this time of the night?"

"You're not with Kouga?" Miroku finally saw their guest, but asked a stupid question. Ayame's eyes suddenly got dimmer after hearing what Miroku asked her. For saying the wrong thing, he received a light elbow attack on his stomach from Sango, who was laughing a little nervously.

Sango ceased her nervous light laugh, Miroku eyed Sango playfully after receiving an elbow hit from her, and Ayame was deep in thought. The atmosphere around got pretty weird, and the silence did not help. Good thing Kagome came back from the kitchen with a cup of hot tea.

"Oh hey, Miroku, Sango." Kagome said while putting the tea in front of the gloomy Ayame. "How's Rin?" She looked back up at the couple with a question.

Both Miroku and Sango focused back on Kagome's question. Sango put on a worried face and shook her head with a sigh. "She's sleeping… but is having a nightmare…" She explained with another sigh.

"Yes. She mumbled some stuff, but we can't really figure anything out from that." Miroku added and took a seat opposite of Ayame. Meanwhile, Ayame was just sipping on the cup of tea, still a bit lost in her own thoughts.

"I see…" Kagome mumbled. Suddenly, a feeling of disgust rushed up from her stomach. She rushed back into the sink with a hand covering her mouth. Sango quickly followed her to look after her. Sango arrived at the kitchen seeing Kagome bending down at the sink, seeming to be vomiting, yet nothing came out of her mouth.

"What's wrong, Kagome? Did you eat something bad?" Sango quickly grabbed a cup, filled it up with water, and rushed to Kagome's side, patting her back lightly to make her feel better. After a while, Kagome seemed better and slid down onto the floor, a hand was still covering her mouth. Her face was all pale.

"I don't know…" Kagome whispered weakly. She felt like she was going to vomit, yet she didn't. However, she still felt very uncomfortable. She probably didn't eat anything dirty or bad that might lead to her being sick… unless… She suddenly gasped out of surprise.

"What?" Sango asked, still worried about Kagome. "Are you feeling better?"

"A little…" Kagome bit her lip, deciding whether or not to tell Sango what she just figured out. She had the urge to tell her best friend, but it would be a little embarrassing if she was wrong. "Should I tell you, Sango? But what if I'm wrong…" Kagome stood up with the help of Sango. She received the cup of water from Sango and sipped it a little.

"Tell me what? You can tell me anything and everything, Kagome. If you want it to be a secret, just tell me, I won't tell anyone, not even Miroku." Sango said with a hint of curiosity in her shinning eyes. She had no idea what Kagome might tell her.

"Hmm… how do I put it? Um… I think I know why I suddenly felt so uncomfortable and even thought I was going to vomit…" Kagome uttered with a blush on her face. Even if she was telling Sango, it still made her a bit embarrassed.

"Why, Kagome?" Sango asked with a puzzled look. Then, a thought hit her. She gasped as well, and then a surprised look appeared on her face. At last, she was smiling widely and excitedly at Kagome. "Are you? Are you-"

"Yes! I think I am…" A smile appeared on Kagome's face too. "I might be… pregnant!" Kagome whispered into Sango's ear, the blush still on her face. "I don't know for sure yet… but I might be right…"

"That's great!" Sango exclaimed and hugged Kagome with a really happy smile. "Congratulations, Kagome! That's great news! Let's go tell Inuyasha about it!" Sango, so excited, pulled Kagome along with her as they rushed back out into yard, passing Ayame and Miroku on their way.

"What's going on?" Miroku asked, following them into the yard. A dazed Ayame finally got back to reality from her thoughts, looked at the trio with confusion. All she saw was the two girls rushed passed them, Miroku followed, and the trio raced down the hallway passed the yard. She stood up also, decided to see what was going on.

"Wait, Sango! What if I'm wrong?" Kagome said worriedly. If she tells Inuyasha, he'll be so surprised and joyful. But what if she were wrong? Inuyasha would be very disappointed. Besides, it really was embarrassing for her to tell Inuyasha of the possible happy news. "I should go for an examination first, right Sango?" Kagome asked, trying to force Sango to stop dashing towards Inuyasha and her room.

Miroku followed close behind them with a confused expression. Ayame was just walking way behind them, not very enthusiastic about anything around her. Sango shook her head as an answer to Kagome's question. "You can always go do a check up afterwards. It's okay to be wrong, there's nothing to be embarrassed about." She was way too excited to not tell Inuyasha of the great news.

Just when they were about to reach their destination, Inuyasha slid the door open, glancing at them like they had gone crazy. "What's the big idea? Why are you guys charging towards my room like you are going to attack me?" He said as he took Kagome's hand away from Sango's grasp.

"Inuyasha!" Sango exclaimed excitedly. "I have a good, I mean, Kagome has a good news to tell you!" Sango said and gave Kagome a pushed. Miroku had arrived, standing beside Sango.

"What is it, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked softly. He just succeeded at ceasing Kagome's anger at him a few minutes ago, he had to be more careful with his temper for a while. He sure did not want his lovely wife to get angry at him again.

"Um… Inuyasha… I… might be…" Kagome stuttered as her blush on her cheeks deepened. Inuyasha looked at her with a raised eye-brow, waiting patiently for her to speak. He mentally noted how delicious Kagome looked with her blushed cheek. He had the urge to eat her after they get back to their room, alone, without other people bugging them.

"I might be… pregnant…" Kagome pulled down Inuyasha and whispered into his ear. Her last word was barely audible. Inuyasha's mind just went black for a few minutes with widened eyes. He stood there like a piece of wood, unable to move or react to what Kagome had just told him.

Totally confused, Miroku pulled Sango to the side and asked, "What's going on here? What did Kagome said to Inuyasha? Look at him, he totally froze! He froze! I never know Inuyasha can be frozen by anyone's words before!" Miroku exclaimed quietly like he just saw a monster or a ghost.

With a sweet smile, Sango told Miroku what happened in the kitchen and Kagome's guess. After hearing it, Miroku had the exact same reaction as Inuyasha. Actually, similar reaction, but less dramatic. "Really? That's great!" He yelled out.

Ayame had finally arrived in front of the two pairs of couple. Finally, Inuyasha stared at Kagome and uttered a barely audible word. "Really?"

Kagome nodded her head. "But I'm not a hundred percent sure yet…" She said before Inuyasha yelped an excited sound and hugged her tightly. A huge smile appeared on his face. The news was so unbearably shocking and joyful that he didn't know how to release his contentness!

"That's great, Kagome! That's great!" He finally exclaimed. He gave Kagome a quick kiss on her lips and rushed towards Miroku and Sango. "I'm going to be a father!" He yelled happily, like a little kid. He then went back and pulled Kagome back into a tight hug.

Ayame's eyes went wide at hearing such shocking news. Then, she smiled. Seeing how everyone was way too happy about the good news, resulting in them not noticing her presence, she decided to go outside for a while. Before she left, she glanced at the two pairs of couple and how happy they were. She really longed to spend the rest of her life happily with Kouga, like Kagome and Inuyasha, and Miroku and Sango.

With a sigh, she went out of the house and hopped onto the roof. She lay on the roof and stared into the night sky. The moon was hiding behind dark clouds, but the stars shinned brightly. Closing her eyes, the image of the man she loved entered her mind – Kouga…

The sun had risen an hour ago. Kaede slid the door open quietly and left the room Rin was in. She had no idea of what happened last night when she was in the room looking after Rin. She just went to the kitchen, starting to prepare breakfast for all. The younger ones usually don't wake up until another hour.

In the room, Rin sat up on the bed with slightly reddened eyes from both lack of sleep and constant crying for the whole night. She moaned a little because of the pain her whole body was feeling. She felt like all her bones had been taken apart, and then put back together.

Quietly, she walked towards the door and slid it open. Suppressing the urge to cry out loud with the pain she was feeling, she moved very slowly down the hallway. She didn't know what she wanted to do, but she wanted to walk around a little bit, to keep her mind off of that horrible memory of that dark night.

Rin stopped in the middle of the hallway, resting her head on the wooden wall. She couldn't move anymore. The pain was eating away her consciousness… Before she passed out again, her falling body was caught by a pair of strong arms. Her vision got very blurry. She managed to glance up at the person who caught her from falling. All she saw was the long silver hair and a pair of blurry golden eyes. She couldn't see his face clearly.

Feeling a pang in her heart, her eyes got watery. "Lord… Sesshou… maru… Why? It… hurts…" She mumbled as her body fell limp, passed out in the arms of Inuyasha, who had just awakened after Kagome got up unusually early for some reasons. He saw Rin wandering in the hallway with a frightening pale face, and was able to catch her in time before she fell down on the floor.

"Hey! Are you okay? Rin?" He shook her body slightly. Then, without much thought of what Rin had uttered, he scooped her up and rushed back into her room. He put her back onto the bed and dashed to find Kaede and Kagome.

He sniffed and located Kagome and Kaede's whereabouts. They were both in the kitchen! Like lightning, he darted and arrived in the kitchen in mere seconds. "Come! Rin has just fainted!" He yelled.

Kaede and Kagome looked up at Inuyasha, and then at each other. Without another word said, they both dropped whatever they were preparing and rushed down the hallway with Inuyasha to check on Rin.

Upon entering the room, Kagome shut the door after pushing Inuyasha out of the room. Taking off Rin's kimono, they saw that several of bandaged wounds seemed to have just re-opened. The white bandage was slowly dyed with a crimson color of blood.

"This is bad. She must have moved around, resulting in her wounds re-opening…" Kaede analyzed as she got to work to stop the bleeding. But suddenly, she felt dizzy as she faltered and steadied herself at the table.

"Are you okay, Kaede?" Kagome asked worriedly as her continue treating Rin's wounds. "You go get some rest, I'll help Rin." She said without wasting any time.

Nodding, Kaede left the room. Outside, Miroku and Sango, with a big bowl of clean water, had assembled, probably because Inuyasha informed them. With a nod, Sango went into the room as Kaede left, locking the door behind her. She rushed to the bed side.

"The wounds…" Sango murmured. "Who could have done such things to Rin?" Sango wondered aloud as she helped Kagome clean up Rin's wounds. The wounds were clearly made by being slashed at by some sort of sharp claws. There were also bruises all over Rin's body. There were also some bite marks along her neck.

"Poor girl…" That was all Kagome could say. After they cleaned the wounds, they bandaged her up again. Covering Rin up with a warm blanket, they left the room with Sango holding the bowl of water. The big bowl of clean water Sango brought into the room was now tainted with crimson color.

All of them went out into the living room and settled down around the desk. After a few minutes of silence, Kagome was the one to break it with a question directed to Inuyasha.

"What happened before, Inuyasha? Do you know how Rin's wounds re-open?" She asked.

"I just woke up and went out of our room, and there she was, standing in the middle of the hallway with her head resting on the wall. Then, she just suddenly fell. Good thing I caught her." Inuyasha explained what had happened before. "Oh, I think when I caught her, she mumbled something like… 'Lord Sesshoumaru, Why? It hurts.' Something like that. She must have mistaken me as my half brother." He added.

"Hmm… I wonder what she means?" Miroku pondered. It could be her wounds hurting her, but he somehow had a feeling it was more than just physical pain. Rin meant something else, but what?

No one answered. After a while of deep thought, Sango looked up.

"I just thought of something… The first time Kagome and I treated Rin's wounds, we didn't notice one thing suspicious about it… We were so caught up at stopping the bleeding that all we saw were the wounds." Sango started and looked at Kagome.

Kagome seemed to realize what Sango was trying to say. "Now that you mention it… The wounds that were bleeding are probably created by sharp claws. But other than the wounds, she also has many bruises all over her body… And also, there are some, um, bite marks along her neck…" Kagome said as she lowered her voice towards the end of the sentence.

After the words sink in, both Inuyasha and Miroku looked at each other, as if trying to see if their guesses of what the two girls had told them were right. Murky expressions covered each and everyone of their faces.

"Last night, when Rin was having a nightmare, she mumbled for Sesshoumaru's help, saying something like let her out and something was in that place where she was." Miroku uttered both to himself and to the others. "Along with the wounds and bruises she has… especially now that you two mentioned bite marks… could it be that she was…" Miroku did not finish the sentence.

By now, they were all lowering their voices, as if afraid Rin might hear them, even though they were far from Rin's room.

"… Tortured by a demon?" Inuyasha finished the sentence for Miroku. Though he wasn't being serious at the moment. Not that he didn't know what the others were implying, but if what he was thinking was correct, that'd be too cruel to a sweet, innocent girl.

Miroku, Sango, and Kagome just stared at Inuyasha. They couldn't laugh at his insensible joke at a time like this. "… Could it be that Rin was, perhaps, … raped?" Miroku managed to complete his own sentence this time.

The mood in the room fell down to below zero degrees Celsius after the "r" word was said by Miroku. All the evidence pointed in that direction, at least for now. Although they hoped that their guess was wrong, they could only hope for there was nothing else they could do at that moment.

"But the weird thing is," Sango suddenly interrupted the silence, "Last night, the last thing Rin said was 'No, how could you do this to me'… Do you think, Rin knew this person who… hurt… her?" Instead of using the word raped, she decided to use a less hurtful word.

Just when everyone was thinking hard and seriously, someone's stomach grumbled. They all stared at Kagome's direction. She blushed and laughed nervously. "Uh-haha… that just reminded me, none of us have eaten breakfast yet…" She said as she stood up, ready to go on preparing breakfast.

"What? You mean you are starving our baby?" Inuyasha exclaimed out of nowhere. He stood up abruptly and quickly pushed Kagome into the kitchen. "I'll prepare the food, you just have to eat, that's all." He said as they disappeared into the kitchen.

"Do you even know how to cook breakfast? I'll do it! You'll just end up spoiling ALL of our food!" Kagome's voice could be heard in the kitchen. Sango and Miroku looked at one another. The gloomy mood around here was gradually disappearing because of the small arguments coming from the kitchen.

"You haven't eat, Sango. Let's think about Rin's problems later." Miroku stood up and walked over to Sango. "I'm hungry too, do you mind if I eat… you?" He whispered into her ear, causing her to blush deeply.

Sango slapped Miroku's chest and hurried into the kitchen too. What the hell was Miroku talking about? She didn't even become his wife yet, how could he think of such dirty thoughts? And how could he say it to her in a public place? Even though no one was there, but still, it was very inappropriate…

After everyone left, Miroku decided to follow them into the kitchen and see what they were preparing…

In the blink of an eye, a gust of whirlwind blew through the forest. The wind disappeared as Kouga stopped by a river to drink some fresh water. He was truly pissed off at the moment. Punching his fist on a tree, he had the urge to beat up someone right away!

"Damn. Where exactly is Ayame?" Kouga uttered to himself angrily. He had only left her in the forest near Inuyasha's house for a while, and then she vanished on him! He had been searching and sniffing for her scent since last evening, and still not a bit of trace of her! He had thought of going back to see if Ayame followed him, and might stay at Kagome's place, but decided against it since he did not pick up any trace of her even when he was right outside of the village. She couldn't possibly be there.

"Bad things better not have happened to her." He mumbled, once again to himself. True, he had told her that she was annoying, and he truly didn't want to be followed every single seconds of his life… But, when she wasn't next to him, nagging at him about his promise to mate her, he felt somewhat not used to it, like she had already been part of his life.

Frowning, he tried to figure out where else could Ayame had went. He didn't know any particular place she liked to go, except that river, the one they passed by when he saved her years ago when she was still young during the night with the giant full moon. Although that river was far, he had also already been there. But to no avail, there wasn't even a single soul at the river.

Did he regret dumping her in the forest and go see Kagome? He would never admit he felt guilty, although he probably did, even if just a little bit. After all, he should have been more careful. He knew all along that Ayame wasn't that strong. Sure, she could protect herself from regular demons, but when she faces a strong demon, like the dead Naraku or Sesshoumaru, she'd be no match to them. The chance of her winning was zilch. So if anything bad were to really happened to her, he would be the one to be blamed, and he would be the one to feel the guilt that he could never atone for his mistake.

Since he was close to his territory, might as well go and check it out. He doubted that she would be there, since those packs of wolves were not under her control, and she would only go there when he went there. As he began running towards his cave with lightning speed, he suddenly smelled the stench of blood.

Following the stench, he came upon several demons' corpse lying around on the ground. They were all apparently dead. Examining the cause of death, Kouga raised his eyebrow. These lowly demons, the ones who ate humans, were all killed by the same demon. The claw marks indicated a strong demon had killed them with one strike. The skins around the wounds were rotting faster, most likely because of poison unleashed along with the claw slash.

Not sympathizing with these lowly demons that preyed on humans, Kouga stepped pass them and went on to his cave. His pack of wolves should be in the cave resting by this time of the day. However, the closer he got to his territory, the stronger another wave of stench filling up his nose. This time, the blood smelled like… his fellow wolves!

His heart skipped several beat as he picked up his speed once again. He arrived in front of his cave with several wolves lying on the ground, all heavily wounded. Before he had time to examine his wolves' wounds and the surroundings, he picked up a faint trail of a demon… He knew this smell, although not very familiar though. This smell belonged to the dangerous demon lord, Sesshoumaru!

In a mere second, he vanished again, only leaving a gust of winds shaking the grasses…

On his way back to his castle, Sesshoumaru released his anger on those stupid demons attempting to devour his power. Those demons, so despicable, dare attempt to kill him? Idiots. He, the great Sesshoumaru, cannot be harmed by such low lives. Them showing up at the right time gave him an excuse to kill. He slashed at them with rage not directed towards those demons, but the rage from his heart of not able to find his missing Rin.

He hadn't return to his castle yet since he came out in hope of finding Rin. How could such a fragile girl just vanish? He was sure she couldn't run too far from his lands… Unless with the help of others. But he doubted that, since Rin practically had no friends except Jaken.

Sesshoumaru suddenly tensed, getting into his alarm mode, as he sensed a presence of a powerful demon. Of course, this demon was no match compared to him. However, he never takes his enemies lightly, even though he always had his placid expression on his face. It would be stupid to be careless and then get your life taken by some low life.

Accompanying a gust of whirlwind, Kouga appeared in front of Sesshoumaru with his fuming eyes. Sesshoumaru stood there, with his right hand holding onto Tokijin, ready to draw the sword. His face as placid and bored as ever as he eyed the raging Kouga in front of him. A wolf demon that he had seen before, Sesshoumaru noted.

"Get out of my way before I kill you." Sesshoumaru commanded with a forceful voice. If this wolf demon wanted to die, he would gladly grant him death.

"You killed my comrades, didn't you?" Kouga roared. It was the only reason why Sesshoumaru would appear around his cave anyway, at least he believed so. "There's the smell of blood all over you." He said, even though there was no trace of blood on Sesshoumaru's pure white, elegant kimono.

"Hmph." Sesshoumaru grumbled. "I have no need to kill you fellow wolf comrades. But I will admit that I killed all those low lives in the forest." After finishing his sentence, he moved forward, attempt to be on his way back to his castle. If this wolf dare block him any further, he wouldn't mind sending him to hell.

Kouga looked at Sesshoumaru suspiciously. "So it was your doing in the forest." Sesshoumaru walked closer and closer to him by this time. He could sense the killing aura around Sesshoumaru, and understood that if he still refuses to move, he'd no doubt be killed by the Lord of the Western Land. Quickly, but carefully, Kouga studied the blood stench surrounding Sesshoumaru. After careful inspection, he realized that those blood stenches in fact did not belonged to his pack of wolves.

Realized that he made a mistake, Kouga stepped to a side. There was no way that he would apologize to the iceberg in front of him, so Kouga decided to rush back to his cave to tend his wounded wolves. He promised to track down the killer, or at least attempt killer, and avenge for his dead and wounded comrades!

Sesshoumaru continued on his journey back home as if the little episode of a possible big fight between him and Kouga did not exist. His mind only went back to Rin, who he had considered a ward in the past, yet not anymore, no matter how reluctant he was to admit his own feelings…

Note: There, a new chapter finished. Aww.. college just started! NO! Now I have no time to do anything I wanted to… So, again, like I said, college just started. I have a lot more work-load, at least for now I suspect from all the works I have already received in my first two days of school. That means, I have even less time to write. Don't expect the next chapter to be out anytime soon. Although I will try to update as soon as I have time… Please be patient, and sorry about that. Now, on with the review…