Like a Battery

By RisuBento

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Tao, the plot, and the unborn baby :D

Chapter Fifteen

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0O

Tao flopped down onto his bed. What to do….? His father was off at a business thingy and his mother was off doing her fashion stuff. Uncle Inuyasha was somewhere… Something about smelling ramen and then he took off down the street. He rolled over and flipped on the TV and sighed when it was all in French. He listened to the foreign drabble and thought that this was SOME vacation when he was by himself all the time. He wished he had some friends his age that he could hang out with more often. Most of the kids at school were either stuck up or just plain weird. He didn't feel like drawing, or eating, or really anything. He wanted to see the Eiffel Tower but his parents would each have a fit if he went off in big confusing city by himself.

The room's telephone rang and he rolled over and answered it in one swoop. "Hello?"

"Hey Tao, sweetie. What're you up to?" Came my mother's voice. "Is your father around?"

"No. He's off doing business stuff. How are things with you?" I asked, delightfully bored.

"Well if you flip on the TV my show is going to start live in about 10 minutes." She mentioned with a tired and happy sounding voice.

"Sure, what channel?" I asked flipping through random French speaking channels.

"Hold on, let me ask Laurent-Hey! Laurent!-" And then proceeded a multitude of muffled voices and shouts (it's got to be chaotic there). "He said 14."

Tao punched in the numbers and it was a two people speaking rapidly in French about the upcoming show. A picture of his mother popped up and a camera view of the chaos going on behind the runway curtain showed people running about yelling, performing last minute pinning and sewing.

"All right. Good luck, mom." Tao said.

"Thanks sweetie. I'll hopefully see you later or tomorrow. When will your father not be around?" She asked. Tao sighed.

"I don't know his schedule, but I'll call you in your room. I love you mom." He said. "I love you too sweetie."

Tao hung up and turned up the volume on the TV. Here we go. The newscaster's were talking rapidly and a shot of the runway was showing that lights were flashing and music was beginning to boom. His mother was so amazing. She was so wonderful at what she did for a living and what's awesome about it is that she was so passionate about it. She was always coming up with vibrant outfits from formal gowns, wedding dresses, to casual and swimwear. She once told me that she knew that she want to be a fashion designer from when she was a little girl. She loved playing dress up with her mother's things. He sighed and realized that it had started.

It was phenomenal. Every woman that strutted down that runway was dressed to a T in the best of best designs his mother made. He personally liked the woman dressed in a very glamorous strapless evening gown with a long train at the base. His mother personally liked this one best because it was designed after her wedding dress. He'd seen her wedding dress once and he could only imagine how his mother had looked in it on her wedding day. 'Maybe she and father will have another wedding day…like to renew their vows or something….'

He must've laid his head down because the next thing he heard was the hotel door opening and closing in a rush. He lifted his head up and glanced over to see his father standing there, loosening his tie and actually looking tired.

"Hello, father." He said sitting up and rubbing his eyes. His father grunted in return and walked over to the bed Tao was on, turning the lamp on. Tao squinted and watched his father remove his cuff links and his tattoos appear and other hereditary features appear.

"I am sorry that I have not been present these few days. I will have some time to see Paris with you tomorrow if you wish." He said, taking his blazer off.

Tao smiled. "I would like that a lot father. Can we see the Eiffel Tower? Or can we please PLEASE PLEASE go to the Louvre?" He suddenly gushed with excitement. His words went on deaf ears for his father was staring intensely at the television screen. Tao glanced over and saw his mother's face on the screen. The tradition was to have the designer come out on stage and thank everyone after the show was over. He didn't think anything of it (which he wondered why he was stupid enough not too) until the camera panned out and it showed her entire person. Pregnant belly and all. UH OH.

He felt his father's rage before seeing it. Snapping his head towards his father, he felt like a worm standing beneath a bird ready to devour it. His father person was deathly still and his eyes were bleeding to a deep red. This wasn't good.

"Dad! Wait-!" He started when his father picked him up by the front of his shirt and lifted him towards his face.

"Why was I not TOLD!" Sesshoumaru snarled. Tao felt his father's hot breath on his face and he felt suffocated. He had NEVER seen his father this angry before; not even when he was having fights with his mother.

"Sh-she didn't want you to know!" He gasped, grasping at his father's hand; trying to get some air.

His father snarled and pretty much dropped him to the floor, where he landed in a loud heap. He coughed and looked back up at his father. Sesshoumaru's claws had extended slightly and were openly quivering, as if squeezing the life out of something. Tao cringed at his father's dark aura. 'He's on the verge of transforming!'

"Father! Stop!" He yelled, getting up and wrapping his arms around his father's waist. A guttural growl came out of his father and he was vibrating violently. He didn't seem to register that his son was trying to hold him back from transforming, not that Tao could honestly do anything against his much more powerful father.

Pain suddenly shot through him and he nearly gagged as he felt a strange heat surge in his veins. He gasped and looked back and found that his father had dug his claws into his shoulder. POISON! His father's poison claws were emitting green poison into his body. Closing his eyes and swallowing he concentrated on his inner youkai half. He felt his charm bracelet shatter and his youkai features emerge. His demon blood surged and fought against the poisonous substance invading his body. He felt his father lessen against him, finally removing his hand from Tao's shoulder. Tao tore himself away and leapt across the room and instinctively crouched slightly and snarled at his father.

Sesshoumaru must've smelled his son's blood and his defensively snarl, because he instantly calmed and looked at his son. His father was panting heavily. He looked down at his bloodied and looked back at Tao who was bearing his teeth and sweating profusely.

"Tao." His father said, moving towards him. Tao made a move to get away, his instincts telling him to get farther from this feral beast in front of him. Before he could make any movement his father was holding him in his arms, almost cradling him. He felt light headed and queasy.

His father laid him on the bed and tore his shirt off and Tao felt another intense surge of heat begin to enter his body through his shoulder, where the wound was. His senses were going crazy; it was like everything in this room smelled of explosions and ammonia. It was awful. He had the bed spins and he felt like vomiting. He opened his eyes to see his father take something from his pocket and move to him again. His shoulder felt cool. He was freezing now. He was tired…and sleep came in a rush. "Mother…"

"Mother…." Came his son's breathy pained whisper. What had he done? Sesshoumaru looked at the damage he'd done to Tao. His own child. He'd wounded his own child. His mother… He felt his blood rush again at the thought of the seeing his wife protruding with life. How dare she? 'How dare she not inform this Sesshoumaru of this event?' His youkai blood wanted nothing more than to take his mate's life at her betrayal, but he tamped it out. He sighed and leaned his elbows onto his knees and held his face in his hands. What had he done? Suddenly the door burst open and in came a crazed Inuyasha.

"Tao! What happened!" He looked around wildly for his nephew and his eyes landed on his brother sitting on the bed next to the slumbering Tao.

"Sesshoumaru! What the fuck happened?" He growled, his hands clenching violently. He watched as his brother stood up slowly, almost as if he was being weighed down by something. Sesshoumaru looked at him with tired eyes and spoke.

"You know and yet you did not tell me." Inuyasha didn't know what he was talking about and he gave his older brother a confused look. "Wha—"

"Watch him. I have something I need to take care of." Was all Sesshoumaru said, before he was gone in the blink of an eye. Inuyasha shuddered at the speed of his brother and shook his head when a smell hit him and his nose wrinkled. Poison…Tao.

He walked over to his still nephew lying on the bed and saw the devilish wound on his bad. Oh man…what the hell made him so mad? 'You know and yet you didn't tell me…' What the heck? A loud clash of music from behind him drew him away from his mindless thoughts and he looked at the TV and found himself looking at his sister-in-law…very pregnant and with a smile on her face.

'Oh shit… Tao must've been watching Kagome's fashion show and Sesshoumaru walked in and saw that she was pregnant. That's why he said that I knew. Ah fuck!'

He realized now that his brother must've been so enraged that Tao had tried to stop him and in that moment of time Sesshoumaru had lashed out at the first thing he came upon. Tao's bracelet was in pieces on the floor, indicating the massive energy that had unleashed in this room only moments before.

"Crap…" he said sitting in the chair next to Tao. "Run Kagome."

"Kagome! The show was amazing! You didn't such an out of this world job." Sango yelled above the cheering backstage crowds. Kagome was being hugged and congratulated continuously by people she knew, people she didn't, and some of the models and their boyfriends. Laurent finally made his way through the crowd and took hold of Kagome and kissed her rather hard on each cheek in his excitement. She laughed and hugged him.

"Kagome! Tres magnificent!" He admonished, almost jumping around like a school boy. He was pushed aside by a mass of photographers and reporters yelling questions in all sorts of languages. She smiled brightly and had to pretend to see all the people because she was being blinded by the camera flashes. Sango took hold of her arm and helped her way out to the red carpet spread at the front of the massive complex.

"This is so exciting Kagome!" Sango laughed. "I'll never get tired of this!"

Kagome continued to smile and was put in front of a large banner with her label printed all over it. A couple of models wearing her prized design evening gown and her favorite spring line lead were placed next to her and, if even at all possible, more bulb flashes went off and she was blinded completely. Looking around at the chaotic crowds she saw Sango and Riku standing off to the side, both on cell phones, no doubt setting up possible sales for her entire line. She suddenly felt as if someone was watching her which was ridiculous because half of France was staring at her right now. But it fell like she was being burned—like shining a magnifying glass in the sun and burning an ant. She scanned the crowd and felt her entire being freeze.

Sesshoumaru was standing at the end of the carpet. Staring. The look in his eyes…she couldn't describe. So much was rushing through them. Oh my god. 'He must've seen the show on television. If he doesn't know I'm pregnant now than I don't know what he's doing here.'

The models left her sides and she was left alone. She looked at Sango and Riku, hoping they were looking at her; seeing her panic. In the flashing of cameras, she felt like she was in a dance club with strobe lights flashing—stopping motion. She didn't even see him move but he was suddenly in front her—his large person covering her from the flashes. She looked up at him and swallowed hard. His expression was angered and…hurt? No. That couldn't be possible.

He suddenly grabbed her by the hand and started to pull her along and away from the crowds. No doubt there would be a tabloid tomorrow about a silver haired man with tattoos on his face dragging the pregnant fashion designer across Paris. She was being led and she felt like she had no choice but to be led. This was it. Her secret had a time limit and it had long expired. He picked her up and vanished from the people below. She felt like throwing up, she was up so high and moving so quickly. She looked up at her husband and couldn't see his face it was so dark out up high.

This was it. She couldn't hide it anymore.

He suddenly landed somewhere setting her on her feet and vanishing before appearing at the other end of the platform. She felt the wind hit her bitterly and with it came the knowledge that she was up high. She knew where she was. She stepped over to the railing and threw up over it. She retched her last and heaved painfully. She'd eaten nothing that day and had nothing to throw up. Wiping her mouth she looked up at her husband's back and spoke.

"Sesshoumaru…" She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Her husband turned.

"Is it mine?" He asked. He of course already knew he just had to have the confirmation from her.

Kagome looked offended and then quite angry. "Of course it is, you bastard. I'm not some tart who sleeps around while she's still married." Sesshoumaru didn't look happy at her tone and his amber eyes flashed a deeper gold.

He was suddenly standing in front of her, pinning her to the wall without touching her; his hands on either side of her face. He smelled her-checking her for other male scents. She was used to this sort of treatment-it came with marrying a dominant male youkai. She stood there perfectly still, hating herself for enjoying being so close to him again after so long. She could smell his scent, his lightly administered cologne. Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply and felt sad when he moved away.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He said, almost sounding pained.

Kagome sighed and swallowed at the coolness of the wind hitting her when he moved away. "Because I felt like you didn't need to know. I didn't want you to know. I was shocked myself…this of course wasn't planned Sessh."

"I am your husband. I am obligated to know what is going on with my mate every second of the day." He snapped.

Kagome didn't have the energy to argue. She just wanted to sleep. She looked out over the city and felt herself go queasy at the height. Sliding down to the floor she closed her eyes and went in and out of consciousness. Oh dear. She WOULD faint right now…

DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUN! Hellooooo! I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! It's been like, what, 4-5 years? It's good to be back, my dear friends. Hopefully my writing style has improved because this is the first time in about 5 years that I HAVE written anything. :D

Tell me what y'all think! Yay!

3