Love and Responsibility
Sorry to keep you waiting. Thanks so much for your awesome reviews! I hope you love the chapter!
Note: When you are pregnant you do faint sometimes, due to various things. (Just wanted to make that clear)
In the beginning of the chapter, Kagome is dreaming of a moment that happened during episode 73 of the series.
Warning: Sexual Content; Offensive Language; Violence
Rating: M for Mature
Couple: Inuyasha and Kagome (Based)
Sango and Miroku
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters associated with the series.
"Talking"
'Thoughts'
Recap: "Oh, of course." She tried to give her mother her most gracious smile, but found she had a difficult time doing such a thing when her head was thundering as if her skull held the center of a hurricane within it. 'The migraine's getting worse.' Her lips curved downward. She could feel herself slowly losing it.
"Kagome?" Mrs. Higurashi reached out to the girl. Her heart skipped a beat when Kagome's eyes closed and the teen suddenly fell to the floor unconscious. "Kagome!" End Recap
Chapter 14: Treading Water
The evening sky overhead was a dark, yet utterly rich blue. Stars scattered across it's wide and beautiful regions. It seemed as if, such a sky could help to lighten the dullest of moods. Beneath the sky she walked, knowing quite well where her destination would be.
Spotting a dab of silver, she knew she was close. The nearer the priestess got, the thicker the silver strands of hair seemed to become. A smile dotted her lips. 'There he is.'
"Inuyasha." The half demon turned to face her, an impassive look engulfing his honey orbs.
"Oh, it's you…" He sounded somewhat surprised to see her. She merely smiled and chose to take a seat beside him.
"I guess you're probably thinking about Shiori." Kagome was close, but she wasn't completely correct.
"Not just her…"
"You've got a big heart, ya know?"
"Come on, Kagome! Don't be stupid!" Feeling no need to take his embarrassed reply personally, Kagome turned to look away from him for the moment.
"It must have been really hard..." She found sadness in her soul when she imagined just how poorly the hanyou must have been treated as a child. Within her, she truly wished she could somehow take away that pain. "Can't imagine what it must have been like." Inuyasha's face remained composed. "But you know something? I think-" She shook her head, correcting herself. "No wait a minute. I mean: Miroku and Sango, Shippo, and even Myoga-You know what we all think?"
"Yeah, I know…" A few seconds of silence passed.
"…What a good boy!" Her smile grew brighter as she patted her friend on the head, feeling for his ears. He snapped at her, smacking her hand away.
"Stop treating me like a dog!" This didn't halt the girl's happiness…
'Another memory…' In the unfamiliar bed, the miko lifted the fatigued lids masking her optics. Her eyes moved about the turquoise room, analyzing it. She struggled to find something that was familiar, something that would help her to more understand her situation.
The atmosphere was cold, not comfortable, or warm, just cold, unwelcoming. Kagome took in the scent of the air surrounding her. There. She'd found something recognizable. 'Where have I smelt this before?' She farther tilted her head, so she could get a look at the machines beside and behind her. 'Oh, I remember. This is like when I first woke up a couple weeks ago… I'm in a… hospital?' The priestess wondered what she could possibly be doing there. The most recent thing she could recall was her scrubbing dirty dishes. 'Then I got that major headache.' She trembled at the memory, lifting her hand to her temple. 'Thank goodness it's gone.'
"Oh, Kagome. Thank the heavens you've awoken." Mrs. Higurashi came rushing up to her daughter, relief evident in her eyes and upon her features. "I was so worried. You just passed out, out of nowhere!"
"I did…?" She wasn't to taken aback to see her mother. Once she'd realized where she was, it was easy to assume that her mother would be there with her as well. Kagome didn't bother to act to shocked in front of the woman.
"You don't remember? It was when you were doing the dishes…" Suteki attempted to make her daughter remember what had taken place back in the kitchen, but she realized rushing such thoughts would be pointless.
"I had a migraine…" The girl informed her mother. "Am I alright? Has the doctor said anything?"
"Well… He said it could have something to do with your amnesia… he said perhaps it was over..." The look of hope in her eyes caused a great deal of pain in Kagome's heart. She felt excessively guilty to say what she was going to say next.
"I still don't remember much of anything… Sorry."
"…It's fine." The woman's lips curled up in a smile that was not completely genuine. Her tone didn't give justice to her words. This only caused the aching within Kagome to deepen.
"Did he say it could have been anything else?"
"I didn't ask him anything farther. He told me he would return when you become conscious once again. He's going to give you a quick examination to see why it is you've fainted."
"K." Kagome closed her eyes. There was no telling how long it would be before the doctor came to see her. She would need to be patient, although that wasn't something she honestly felt like doing at the moment. 'I hope I haven't ruined the vacation. Mom, Sota, Gramps, and I think even Inuyasha is looking forward to it. I've got to be strong.' She didn't want to let them down any more than she already had.
"Perhaps I should go call him and tell him that you've awoken?" The woman spent a few insipid tic-tocs of the clock debating whether or not it would be best to call for the medical man. 'He could be busy. He is a doctor after all…'
"Where are Sota and Gramps?" The bed ridden miko yearned to know where a certain friend of hers was. 'Well I guess he's more than just a friend…' She just felt much to humiliated to ask such a thing. The priestess surely didn't want to seem needy of her hanyou companion.
"Well…" She brought a pale, pointer finger to her chin in contemplation. "I called an ambulance to get you here. When they arrived your grandfather came rushing down the steps. He seemed so worried… I told him that he had to stay and wait for Sota to arrive home from his last day of school."
"I see."
"As for Inuyasha…" She understood perfectly well where the half demon must have gone off to, but she couldn't very well blurt out such facts. Suteki hadn't prepared much of any excuse for the hanyou. She had been to wrapped up in the wistfulness that Kagome would no longer have amnesia, and that she would not need to come up with an excuse at all. "He left not long after breakfast. I'm not sure where he could have gone…" The woman truly disliked lying to her eldest child, but what other choice did she have?
"He didn't say anything?"
"Not a thing." That partially was true. Suteki observed as her daughter's mortification manifested. 'It's almost surprising…' The corners of the woman's lips curled up in contentment. Her lids leisurely fell south, covering her orbs, but only for a moment. 'Even without her memories she cares for him so dearly.' She felt the urge to let lose a sob of amusement, as well as anguish. Kagome's mother was sincerely happy that her daughter had someone whom she could truly love and someone who could adore her to the fullest, but she also felt a sense of objection floret within her. Suteki wasn't quite sure whether or not she was ready to give her daughter away. 'She's only sixteen after all…'
"Mom? Did you hear me?" Tilting her head in a puzzled manner, Kagome blinked. She examined her mother closely as the woman began to titter anxiously, and proceeded to mask her mouth with her paled left hand.
"I apologize, Kagome. I was just lost in thought."
Hearing this, Kagome exhaled audibly in a long, deep breath. To be perfectly honest, she couldn't say that she was upset that her mother had not heard her question. In fact, she was somewhat relieved. 'I shouldn't have asked such a brazen thing.'
"What was it you were trying to tell me?" Mrs. Higurashi awaited her daughter's response. To her bemusement, Kagome was silent. "Dear?"
Although the priestess ciphered that her question was indecent, she still felt the need to inquire about it. A rosy blush dabbled her soft cheeks. 'Alright, enough treading water! I'm gonna ask.' "You told me I loved Inuyasha. Did that mean we were in a relationship, or was it a one-sided emotion?"
"Eh…" While Suteki should have been expecting Kagome to quiz her on such a matter, she couldn't honestly declare that she had been. "I suppose… well from what I can gather, it's not a relationship, but the feelings certainly aren't one-sided." Of course, her words only increased the reddening of either side of Kagome's face.
"Is that so…?" The miko mumbled timidly. 'Either she's unaware of the night Inuyasha and I spent together, or even though it's happened, we're not together as a couple.' She moaned unhappily. Questioning her mother had done her no good whatsoever. 'Well, I did find out that Inuyasha has feelings for me.' Hope swelled within her. The girl couldn't help the giddy feeling that began to consume her.
"So you just found this girl in the forest?" Inuyasha took a seat against the wooden wall of Kaede's medicine hut. He took a moment to savor the familiar scent of green and golden herbs.
"That's right. She was being attacked by what looked like a griffon." The demon slayer discontinued her explanation for the moment. She patiently awaited the half demon's reaction. Just as she had expected, he leaned in, intrigued.
"A griffon…?" Speculating, Inuyasha realized that he'd never heard of, so much as seen, what Sango called a 'griffon'. "What the hell is that? Some sort of demon?"
"A demon?!" The young dragon shot up in a manner that was indubitably harmful to her body, especially in her current decrepit state. From the tone she had used, she seemed shocked that the humans before her could refer to the beast she had been clashing with as a demon. "That monster was no demon!" Her face turned a sickly pale color. Utter disgust emitted from those seemingly innocent jade eyes of hers. "No, the griffons are much more vile than demons…"
"… more vile than demons?" Miroku lifted a doubtful brow. "Perhaps you exaggerate, for demons spawned from the depths of hell. They are… in essence… vile… Most of them, at least."
"Those creatures, those griffons-!" Her bitter words spilled from her lips like venom from the fangs of a king cobra furiously hunting in the forests of South East Asia. The female's small hands crunched into whitening fists. "They've done us dragons a great injustice..."
"But I don't understand…" Sango felt a bloodcurdling chill whisk it's way up her spine in an uninvited fashion. Just hearing the cold way this young child spoke was enough to make any slayer shiver this way. "I've heard that the griffons are a stubborn, but peaceful race. They are wiser than any human or demon alike, isn't that so? I can't imagine them taking such immoral actions, as you make it seem that they have."
"It is not necessary that you believe me…" The dragon's head dropped, in a most depressive manner. From where the others occupied the small hut, it seemed as though the girls sandy tresses had come to shade over her eyes. Due to this small fact, only Inuyasha was able to take notice that the girl was crying softly. The others were oblivious to her acrid tears.
"Child." Kaede spoke up for the first time in a multiple amount of minutes. "Could ye tell us what it is that these griffons have done to ye and your kind?" The small child seemed reluctant to recall the memory.
"I still haven't gotten the explanation I've been waiting for." Drawing out his words, the half demon began to tap impatiently on the lumber he lounged on. He gave a rough, unnecessary sigh when he realized that the others had absolutely no idea what explanation he was blabbering on about. "The griffons!" He barked. "What the hell are they!? They're not demons. They're not humans! They're obviously not dragons…"
"Like dragons…" Sango began, bringing a protective hand to her belly. She feared that all of the irritation wafting through the air could have a negative affect on her faultless, unborn infant. "Griffons are beings far different from humans. Unlike demons they do not come in many shapes and sizes. From what I've heard all griffons resemble one another in some way. I mean, of course some are smaller than others-"
"Get on with it." Inuyasha pushed, never halting the drumming of his claws on the timber beside and before him.
"From what I've recently seen, they're gorgeous creatures. Their main body regions compare to both that of a lion and that of a wolf, for they've got a lion's tail and a lion's torso, yet they've got the skinny paws and piercing claws of the deadliest of wolves. Their heads are shaped like a hawks, only much larger. On there backs are golden wings that ascend towards the heavens themselves."
"The wings compliment they're honey colored fur, if I may add." Miroku smiled, feeling as though he'd accomplished something, just in adding that small, concluding comment.
"Nice explanation you gave there, but that didn't tell me a damn thing about them, except how they look." The hanyou snorted, aggravation mounting. Sango and Miroku simultaneously groaned. They should have expected Inuyasha had merely been interesting in learning of the being's stats.
"Inuyasha, they're powerful." Sango quivered just at the mere thought of battling with one of the relentless individuals. "More powerful than even you."
"Keh! Sango, you underestimate my abilities." Inuyasha was offended. "As if I can't handle some half bird, wolf thing…" He paused, taking a millisecond to consider something. "Not that it matters whether or not I could. I won't be fighting the damn things."
"Eh?"
"I don't know why the hell we're even discussing this. This war has nothing to do with us. This is just the dragons and the griffons, right? What should we get involved for?"
"But Inuyasha-!" Sango protested. She was cut short when Miroku held up a opposing hand.
"You're one-hundred percent correct, my friend." The monk spoke sincerely. "But who's to say this wont become our fight? Should we not prepare for what could come? Twice already these griffons have come close to this village."
"We've got Naraku and the jewel shards to deal with!" Inuyasha spat out. "We can't afford to waste time on some other life form's fricken war." The occupants of the home seemed to acknowledge the half demon's words, for they fell silent for many moments.
"Alright, now." Kagome's doctors flipped a few yellow pages of his clip board, his eyes roaming hastily over a few words. "We've gotten the basic test results back, and I can't seem to find what the cause for your sudden lose of consciousness would be." He winced, completely befuddled. "You haven't remembered anything farther, but before you fainted you recall having great pain in your head. Is that right?"
"Yes." Like a good patient, Kagome answered all of the man's questions as honestly as she could manage.
"There are many things that can cause someone to faint. Stress, for instance. Mrs. Higurashi, does she have a tendency to pass out every now and again?"
"No, she's never…"
"I was doing the dishes…" The priestess chewed her lower lip thoughtfully. "I don't think I was under any stress at all…"
"Is that so?" Mr. Sasaki, the current MD looking after Kagome, began to ponder over the possible causes for the teenagers unexpected blackout. 'Of course, when you've hit your head as hard as Kagome has, it could be a number of things that cause you to faint.'
"This is so lame." He could hear Kagome mutter from beside him. "First I get sick this morning, and now this…" It was from this short, simple sentence that realization hit the man. He swallowed a growing lump within the depths of his throat. "Mrs. Higurashi, would it be alright if I discussed something in private with your daughter?"
I'm sorry that this chapter took a bit longer to update than my last few, but I'd just been completely out of it lately. I'll try to update the next chapter sooner.