Chapter 6 – It isn't fair

It was now late in the afternoon.

Ever since Inuyasha and Chikara had brought back Koga to camp, a sad atmosphere was permeating everyone's mood.

Miroku and Sango went to get more wood to keep their camp warm; it was the only excuse they had thought of to get away from the thick depressing mood.

Kagome was poking at the fire with a stick, still a bit sad herself, but happy to see that Koga was still with them; in history classes at school, she had learned that many women died in childbirth and miscarriages in the Feudal period. She rubbed her hands together to warm them. Glancing at the hut no more than thirty feet away, she wondered what Inuyasha was thinking.

The said dog demon was sitting beside a still recovering Koga and the goddess of Sun and Moon. Chikara was putting the wolf into a forced sleep, so his body would cope more rapidly with the loss of the foetuses… yes, foetuses, as in 'more than one'.

Inuyasha wiped a single tear. 'I would have had two little boys…' he repeated to himself. Even though they would have been half-demons since they had been conceived the night of the new moon, Inuyasha knew they would have grown to become handsome demons.

Sighing, he approached his lover futon to adjust his covers; Chikara looked at her brother in law, whom she considered like a son, and hugged him tightly. He looked at her, but said nothing, as she got up and walked out of the small abandoned house.

No words had been exchanged; the pain was too difficult to bear for either of them.

°°°

While she crossed the camp, Chikara seemed to be empty of any emotions.

Kagome looked up from the fire to the goddess and, seeing that she didn't acknowledge her, she got up herself to follow the other.

The ageless woman was too preoccupied to even realize that Kagome was following her. Her pace was rather slow, but after fifteen minutes, she finally settled down… although, 'letting herself drop on the ground' would be more appropriated. Her entire body started to shake, which made the young priestess panic.

Kagome was about to go and help the woman, when suddenly she felt a strong demonic aura. She tried to grab her bow and arrow, but she had left them back at camp. 'Stupid!!! How can I be so forgetful and not bring my only weapon?!' she thought. She bit her lip; maybe she should get the others at the camp to help Chikara…

But she didn't need to get further into her thoughts, as the demon was Sesshoumaru. The second he was beside the goddess, she latched herself onto his chest and started to cry loudly, which scared off some birds in the woods.

Much to the young priestess' surprise, the demon lord gently shifted her to his left shoulder, where there were no armour spikes that could hurt her. He then started to gently pet his wife's blond hair with his right hand. He also whispered something into the goddess' ear, but Kagome hadn't been able to hear it because of the distance separating her from the couple.

"What happened? I smelt Naraku's blood and came immediately here, only to find you alone" he stated calmly.

"I- We- were attacked… by Naraku and- and… Koga-got-wounded-and-his-pups-died!" she cried hysterically. "It's not fair Sesshoumaru!!!"

She clutched his sleeve tightly; he tried to understand Chikara's fragmented speech, before finally understanding: "My love. There's no need to cry all the tears of your body. I assume he survived, yes?"

She nodded.

The couple was not whispering anymore, so Kagome was then able to grasp the conversation.

The goddess sighed loudly: "Oh Sesshoumaru… Koga lost an important part of himself: his babies died before he even got to know them. He had to go through what no sane mother-to-be would want to go through…" Chikara covered her own mouth to refrain herself from continuing her sentence.

Sesshoumaru's hand left the long blond hair to touch Chikara's own, motioning to continue and then got back to petting her hair. Although the move had been gentle, his face was emotionless.

"…I had feared this would happen to me when I was pregnant with our son. I was so stupid; travelling alone, I didn't know what the next day held for me." She slowly stopped to cry, now only shaking. "I was scared to death. I guess though, that Koga has been through something worse…" she admitted.

Something seemed off about Chikara's behaviour and Sesshoumaru knew there was something more than simply Koga's miscarriage.

As he was thinking silently, the Sun was slowly setting as the Moon was rising. It was getting dark and Chikara was gradually transforming into her night form. Curly jet black hair was now covering Sesshoumaru's hand instead of golden.

He intended to learn what was bugging his wife, so he carefully asked, trying to not upset her: "Dear, I sense you are far more troubled about this whole incident than you are letting us see. You look haggard. You know how it hurts me to see you crying…"

He didn't need to finish his sentence that Chikara of the Moon was standing and turning her back to him: "First of all, you know how I hate to be petted like that, Sesshoumaru."

Kagome was surprised by the change of her friend's mood. She had never really seen such difference in her two personalities.

The lord immediately repaired his error: "Yes, dear, I know. I am sorry, but you seemed so shaken I didn't know what to do." His tone was neither joyous nor angry.

Chikara seemed satisfied with that, so she continued: "Secondly, I still can't understand how you are able to read me like this… it is almost frustrating." She sighed while tapping her foot on the ground. "But you are right, my dear. I do hide something."

"Then do tell, maybe it will ease the pain" the dog demon said. Asking her to sit down, he restrained himself this time to stroke her hair. Sometimes he wondered why she was so different from her day form.

Chikara sat down and prepared herself to tell her worries. She seemed to hesitate at first, but she finally complied. "It is my entire fault… Koga and Inuyasha's relationship was disapproved by the Gods from the moment they kissed."

Kagome, from her hiding place, gasped. 'Inuyasha is the mate that abandoned Koga?! Wait… HE is Koga's mate?!' Thoughts swirled in Kagome's mind. She thought that he loved Kikyo… at least she had a chance… 'but against Koga? How can I compete against that?' She started to feel a pain in her chest. Sadness, anger and other different emotions were attacking her from every side. Kagome suddenly felt darkness enveloping her. She welcomed it, hoping it was going to ease her pain.

A thud, not far from them, was heard by the royal couple. Sesshoumaru got up to fetch the young priestess; he had known she had been there from the start, but he didn't think she would faint. He put her beside his mate: "I guess the news were too harsh in her taste" he said mockingly. Humans… so weak.

Chikara sent a glare at her husband for his insensitivity toward Kagome… although, he was right; the shock had been too great for her.

Sesshoumaru evaded the menacing looks of his wife by continuing the conversation: "But why would the Gods disapprove? There is nothing wrong with their relationship, no?" Sesshoumaru asked, curious to see why. He doubted it was because Inuyasha was a half-demon… or the fact that he was still part of the Royal family of the Western Lands.

The goddess sighed. She looked at Kagome, pushed a strand of hair from the girl's 'sleeping' face and said: "I don't think they were against it, but they did say that because it was Inuyasha's destiny to kill Naraku, he had no time to lose on a mate and pups… meaning that Inuyasha and Koga didn't have their blessings." She paused, feeling the tears gathering in her eyes. She looked away, not wanting Sesshoumaru to see her tears; she was way too proud for that. "I tried to change their mind about it… but it was majority against me."

"You mean that you knew about what would happen today?" the lord asked, puzzled at his mate's mysterious behaviour; she looked very remorseful. It would surprise him that she wouldn't prevent such a situation if she had been informed beforehand.

"NO! Of course not!" she yelled angrily. She faced him again: "I would have done something if I had known that this was to happen today" she clarified, regaining her composure. "They simply said that they would 'correct' the situation. I never thought it would be this drastic." She sighed: "It's so unfair; those two didn't deserve this punishment. The Gods could have simply separated them…"

Sesshoumaru didn't agree on this: "As I know Inuyasha, he is so stubborn that he would have tried to find where his mate was."

Chikara sadly nodded; that was probably what would have happened… after all, Inuyasha is Inuyasha.

Trying to cheer up his wife, Sesshoumaru said: "There's nothing more you can do… they will now need support to pass through this rough trial." He sighed: "And if it can ease your worries, you should know that a male bearer needs to take a lot of weight in order to insure a stable pregnancy; demons, especially males, don't have much fat on their bodies. Koga was probably very thin since he didn't have his mate to provide him what he needed. Am I right?" he asked.

"Yes, you are right... The moment I saw him, his thinness took me by surprise." Slightly shaking her head, Chikara looked down at Kagome beside her and said: "I should get back to camp. The others are probably worried about me." She got up and tried to pick up Kagome, but her strength failed her; she had used to much energy with the battle earlier and needed to recover. With an annoyed look on her face, she reluctantly asked Sesshoumaru to take the young priestess: "It's only a temporary fatigue…" she had said as an excuse.

The lord knew better than to mock her when she was asking for help, so he did as asked.

°°°

Sango and Miroku had been waiting impatiently to see if the two women would come back soon, as night had fallen a few hours ago. Shippo had fallen asleep, spent from the day's commotion. They were happy to see that he wasn't affect as much by Koga's miscarriage as they were.

The two young adults were ready to go out in the forest to find their friends when the goddess arrived with her husband and a still unconscious Kagome.

The monk and the demon slayer were surprised and were about to attack the demon Lord when Chikara raised her hand to stop them. They noticed she wasn't in a good mood and abstained themselves from arguing.

Chikara searched through Kagome's things to find the girl's sleeping bag. She then settled it on the ground and motioned Sesshoumaru to put the fainted priestess in it. The lord did as asked, even though no words had been spoken. She then brought Shippo's sleeping form beside Kagome, so he could continue to sleep peacefully.

The woman then turned to face Sango and Miroku and told them that she was going to see Koga and Inuyasha. Sesshoumaru followed her in the hut.

"This is weird" Sango whispered to Miroku, not knowing the demon lord could very well hear them.

"I know. It's rare to see Sesshoumaru not attacking us or Inuyasha…" the monk answered. "He even seems sad…" he mused.

Sango scoffed: "You think so?"

Sesshoumaru pretended to ignore this, as he knew picking up a fight would bring anger to his mate and she had enough to trouble her mind, she didn't need more. As he entered the hut, he immediately felt the air tense, as Inuyasha was glaring at him, from his seat on the floor. The lord knew his brother didn't want him around, but he was being polite by offering his apologies for the loss of the pups.

"So, he hasn't woken up yet?" Chikara asked, unaware of her surroundings. She checked his pulse, not really waiting for the evident answer. She sighed and looked at her brother-in-law: "Inuyasha, even though Koga is physically in shape to continue to fight… his mind is probably not. I will still bring him to the castle with me."

Inuyasha got up to reply, but then Sesshoumaru did something unexpected; he approached Inuyasha and put his arms gently around the half-demon. "I am sorry for the loss of your sons" he simply said, without any warmth or coldness in it.

Confusion was written all over the half-demon's face. Inuyasha pushed his brother to break the fragile embrace that was linking them together. "What the hell?! What's wrong with you?! Why are you acting like we're close? Get lost!"

Chikara was about to reply harshly when Sesshoumaru stopped her.

"Here I am, Inuyasha, bringing some sympathy for the loss of your pups, and you are threatening me?" the lord asked, insulted. He turned around and left the hut.

Chikara's red eyes glared at Inuyasha and she left without saying a thing. Although she wanted to rebuke him, she knew it would have more effect on Inuyasha if she didn't tell him what he had done wrong; it was almost positive that he would come to apologize later, after realising his error.

"Sesshoumaru! Wait!" she whispered harshly, not to wake Kagome.

Walking quickly to join her husband, she noticed he was angry. "Oh please, don't tell me that what Inuyasha said upset you…" she said, rolling her eyes. The lord only frowned, but she knew what his answer was. "You know, your brother is going through something difficult, and all of the sudden, you show him some sympathy. Even though he doesn't want to show it, it's too much for him to handle…" She hugged his only arm: "although I admit it was cute to see you giving your brother a hug" she smirked. She guided him away from the camp. Closing the distance between herself and a tree, she declared: "Let's sleep here tonight, so tomorrow we can bring back Koga to the castle."

He sat beside her, his back against the tree: "What do you mean 'we'? I have other things to attend to" he said, calmly. She snuggled closer to him, so he added: "But I guess… I could need a small trip to the castle myself…" Chikara laughed; she knew he couldn't have resisted for long. He raised an eyebrow and continued: "… simply to assure myself that everything is still in order and also to … see my son."

The last sentence made the goddess smile and before closing her eyes, she kissed him gently on the lips as a thank you.

"Aren't you going to be cold in this weather?" he asked.

"No… are you forgetting who you are talking to? I'm a goddess. As long as I have energy left, I won't freeze…" she answered, half-asleep.

°°°

In the hut, not far from them, a half-demon and a wolf demon were lying on the ground, side by side. They didn't touch; one of them was still sleeping and the other awake.

Inuyasha lying on his side, petting his lover's hair while humming quietly.

The wolf woke up slowly, feeling someone playing with his black hair. Only his head moved to look at the other demon beside him.

"Hi" was the half-demon's simple greeting. His smile was uneasy but genuine for the other male.

Koga answered with some mumbling. His mind was all fuzzy; he wasn't sure of where he was and if it all really had happened, so he asked. Inuyasha's answer had hit him like a ton of brick on the chest. He didn't want to see the dog demon at the moment; he wanted to be alone and escape this feeling of shame. When he looked up directly in Inuyasha's eyes, though, he felt that the other wasn't rejecting him. "Why are you reacting like this, Inuyasha?" The silver haired demon's confused look incited the wolf to continue: "I just dishonoured you by losing your children in a miscarriage and you react like nothing happened!" he said, with a trembling voice.

A short verbal fight ensued, but it quickly ended as Sango came to put an end to it; all the yelling could wake up Kagome and Shippo.

That night, no one really slept well.

Dedicated to my dear InuyashaHoujo, since he/she likes my stories so much (especially Chikara)! Love you! (by the way, that was sarcastic. If you don't get it, see his/her review and you'll understand).


Okay, so this one took a while to update 'cause I got to tell ya, I've lost all interest in this story... and in Inuyasha in general. SO there is one half-chapter left, explaining the morning after the battle and that's it. But if you guys want to, I could continue it to complete the chapter with Chikara going to explain Koga's situation back at Koga's den (and eventually a bit of verbal fight lol). So it's up to you guys: want me to post my original ending, or the new one? Cause I don't really care...

Please review to tell me your answer:)