Chapter Thirty-Two
Uncle Miroku?!
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Kasei groaned lightly as the morning sun hit his closed lids and he shifted, pulling the covers over his head, snuggling closer to his new mate. Ai smiled in her sleep, snuggling closer as well. Kasei cracked an eye when he heard the familiar cry coming from his sister's room and growled, shoving his head underneath his pillow. He didn't know how Ai could sleep as soundly as she did even though her hearing was better than his.
The sound of someone being sick in the toilet reached his ears and he sighed, rolling over and opening his eyes, now completely awake. There was no way that he was going to get any more sleep. With another sigh, he heaved himself out of the warm and cozy bed, heading towards his personal bathroom.
Sesshomaru opened his eyes slowly and looked over at his currently showing pregnant mate. She was due at the healers today to check on how the pup was developing. He could smell that everything was alright but occasionally, he would hear not just two but three heartbeats coming from his mate. He passed it off as his ears playing tricks on him but he made a mental note to speak to the healer.
Sesshomaru smiled and placed a kiss on the mark he'd made all those years ago, finally straightening and entering the hallway, not surprised to hear water running or Takara's footsteps as she soothed the infant she'd taken in.
Walking the few steps to her room, he quietly opened the door watching her as she paced around the room, trying desperately to soothe the infant. Smiling, he walked in further, lightly shutting the door. Surprisingly, the boy she'd taken in earlier, Haku, was still sleeping contentedly in his small bed. He raised a brow when he saw the boy clutching a stuffed silver dog, but shook it off, walking over to his daughter.
"Ohayo." He said softly, catching the movement of her black dog ears. Takara smiled and nodded, continuing on what she was doing, her nose slightly wrinkled.
"I think Hana's sick." Sesshomaru frowned slightly and leaned forward, sniffing the air around the infant and nodded. He lightly felt the child's forehead and nodded again.
"I'll send the healer up here." Takara smiled and nodded, her ears swiveling to where Haku stirred, sitting up and sleepily rubbing his eyes. Seeing Sesshomaru, the boy smiled brightly.
"Ohayo, Ojiisan!" Sesshomaru smiled back at the boy.
"Ohayo, Haku. Say, why don't you come with me? I was just about to get something for your obaa-san." Haku nodded and hopped out of bed, scurrying over, his two-tailed cat demon following him faithfully. Opening the door, he let the boy out first before lightly closing it after him. Smiling, he half-listened to the boy as he chattered on, stopping suddenly when the boy's words halted in mid-sentence. The demon lord looked to the boy as he was staring out the double doors of the dining hall and frowned, following his gaze until he rested on the monk and the slayer that Kagome was so fond of.
"Uncle Miroku!!" Haku cried suddenly, running out the doors and launching himself into the monk's arms. Sesshomaru raised a brow at this, uncle Miroku?
"Haku? What in the world? What are you doing here, at Lord Sesshomaru's castle?" He set the boy down, kneeling down himself to become eye level with him. Haku smiled brightly.
"I live here with okaa-san now, Uncle Miroku!" Miroku blinked and looked over his shoulder to Sango who only shrugged, indicating that she was as clueless as he was before turning back to the boy.
"Just with your okaa-san? Where's your outo-san?" Haku smiled again.
"Father lives in the village just outside of the castle walls." He told him, having already accepted Kyoto as his adopted father. Miroku frowned, clearly not understanding.
"Haku, what are doing outside so early without a sweater or something? You're going to catch cold." Takara stated from the doorway, staring right at Miroku and Sango. They were those people from the first breakfast that they had at the castle since coming back to this time.
Haku whirled around and broke out into an even bigger smile. "Okaa-san! Okaa-san!" He shouted, running over to her and pulling her over to the other two.
"This is Uncle Miroku, okaa-san! Uncle Miroku, this is my okaa-san!" Haku was smiling brightly, obviously overjoyed. Takara smiled and patted his head.
"Run along and get ready for breakfast, Haku." She said softly. Haku nodded.
"Hai!" Once the boy was out of ear shot, Takara looked them over though it was Miroku who spoke.
"What happened to his parents?" Takara put on an indifferent face before answering.
"They died after some demon killed the entire village looking for the shikon jewel." She heard them gasp and her curiosity was instantly spiked.
"Then … "She nodded.
"I saved him and my mother is currently caring for the jewel." Miroku blinked, looking at Sango who looked at her.
"Of course … you look so much alike. You must be Takara, Kagome's daughter." Takara frowned a little but slowly nodded.
"I'm sorry about your brother." She said after a silent minute, getting only a nod in response.
"I didn't know much about him or his family, as I had only found out that I had a brother just last year and we had only met a few times." Sango stepped up and put a hand on his shoulder. A sad smile came to the monk's lips and he gently placed his hand over hers.
Takara frowned a little. "Well, it is a little chilly out here and I don't doubt that everyone would be happy to see you again." She walked back into the castle catching her mother's angry voice.
"Don't make me say it so early in the morning, InuYasha!" Kagome yelled. InuYasha said something that she couldn't make out but apparently it was the wrong thing to say because she soon heard a loud thud, indicating that her mother had sat her uncle.
Miroku chuckled, shaking his head. "Well, at least everything is still the same." The monk stopped in his tracks as a very large demon entered the room, looking like a mix between Sesshomaru and InuYasha. Sango's eyes widened a little as the demon stopped at them and smiled. Slowly her brain began working again and she returned the smile.
"Ohayo, InuTashio." The former demon lord nodded a little at the slayer and the monk.
"Ohayo, it's good to see you both again." Their short conversation came to an abrupt halt as a very pregnant Kagome stormed into the dining hall, a few servants following her, begging her to go back to bed. They nearly ran into their mistress when she stopped suddenly.
"Sango! Miroku!" She shrieked, running over to them and giving them a hug before pulling back, happiness radiating off the miko.
"Kagome! You look absolutely stunning! And you're showing now!" Kagome grinned and turned sideways, placing her hands on her swollen stomach.
"Third time." Sango's eyes widened a little as she placed her hands on her friend's stomach as well.
"How many this time?" Kagome thought for a minute but shrugged slightly.
"I'm not entirely sure. One, I think but I didn't get this large with Katsu." Sango nodded.
"Every time is different though, Kagome." Kagome nodded in return.
"Yeah, I know. How long are you guys staying for?" Sango smiled and turned to Miroku.
"For a while. We both did what we wanted to do. I visited my village and Miroku went to see the drunken monk." Kagome giggled, knowing just who she was referring to.
"Well, we were just about to sit down for breakfast, you should join us." Sango nodded.
"Defiantly." She would talk to Kagome about the boy that lived here later, after breakfast. She was starving!
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Kagome sat in the healer's hut, patiently waiting for Sesshomaru to be finished talking with her. She rested a hand on her abdomen and sighed, closing her eyes. She was still pretty tired but she was so excited to see Sango and Miroku again, it had been too long. She quietly walked closer to the bamboo flap in the doorway, slowing her breathing down to try and avoid her mate's super hearing.
"I wish you had brought her here to see me sooner, Sesshomaru-sama. The pups are fine but I am slightly concerned for Lady Kagome's health. They are taking more of a toll on her body than the first two did and they seem to be absorbing more of her miko powers than your other children, though it is not something to be overly concerned about." The healers stated in a low voice, making Kagome have to strain her hearing to hear her correctly.
Sesshomaru nodded before responding. "What would you suggest?"
"That she doesn't get overly excited or upset. Try to keep her as calm as possible for if her miko powers were to flare up, no matter how immune the pups are, it could end up killing them and injuring her. However, if she were to exert some of her powers on something physical, it would lessen what the pups are absorbing and lessen the chance of a flare up." Sesshomaru nodded again.
"Other than that?" He asked his voice slightly strained.
"Other than that, both mother and pups are fine and are developing nicely." Sesshomaru nodded and smirked a little when he heard the sound of his mate scurrying back to her place as not to get caught eavesdropping.
Pushing the flap aside, he smiled at his mate, helping her up. "You should learn to move more quietly if you're trying to fool me." Kagome blushed a little, slightly embarrassed at being caught.
"You heard me, huh?" He chuckled.
"Kagome, I think everyone heard you." Kagome blushed again, looking down at the passing scenery as they flew on her mate's youkai cloud back towards the castle.
After a few minutes of silence, Sesshomaru sighed a bit. "Alright so what did you hear?"
His golden eyes watched as his mate fidgeted a little.
"Kagome." He called firmly, a silver brow arched. Kagome sighed.
"Everything, pretty much." Sesshomaru sighed again; it figured that his mate would hear everything.
"Well, I suppose this saves me the trouble of telling you." Kagome nodded.
"But … what are we suppose to do? Why is this happening now? It didn't happen with Kasei and Takara or Katsu, as far as I know." Sesshomaru frowned, in thought.
"Well, I suppose we'll just have to put you on bed rest." Kagome's jaw fell open.
"BEDREST?! But! That's so not fair! There are things I want to do! That I need to do!" Sesshomaru winced slightly from his mate's high-pitched voice.
"Kagome, this is what I'm talking about. You're not suppose to get all worked up, it's not good for you or the pups, and you know that." Kagome stopped and sighed, nodding.
"I know … but … Sango and Miroku just came back and I want to hear all about their travels and everything else." Sesshomaru arched a silver brow.
"I never said anything about you not being able to visit with your friends; I understand how important they are to you." Kagome looked up at him and smiled, throwing her arms around his waist.
Sesshomaru smiled as well, returning the embrace.
"I don't know if you realized this but the healer said 'pups' as in two." He said softly. Kagome's eyes widened.
"Twins? Again?!" Sesshomaru nodded and he just chuckled at her happy squeal and she threw her arms around his waist again.
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A/N: Well, hello again! xD I realize that these chapters are considerably shorter but I think they hold more information than my previous ones! I hope this clears up a few questions that you had about Haku!