Chapter Four: The Lotus

Three things cannot be long hidden, the sun, the moon, and the truth - Buddha

It stayed a secret for almost two weeks. Kagome was just starting to think that she had gotten away with it, that it would be easy to continue keeping it a secret, and that she was never going to have to tell her mother. But nothing good in life ever lasts and the truth always has a way of coming out—usually in the worst possible way—as it finally did.

She should've known she couldn't keep Inuyasha away forever. It hurt him that she would even try. But she'd gotten this 'wound' in a place that was somewhat difficult to keep hidden. Her uniform shirt often lifted high enough to reveal the area—whether because of the wind blowing or because she was stretching. Her shirt wasn't long enough. The longer sweater she'd brought with her helped, but she couldn't wear it forever. And what about when she bathed? She'd resumed her normal bathing habits the day before, with Sango, and it had been so hard to hide her skin in the clear water from the other woman. Part of her wished that she had noticed, just so that Kagome could've told someone and gotten the secret off her chest. Besides, did she really think Sango would disapprove? She'd probably understand… better than her mother anyway, and better than Inuyasha would. The thought of Inuyasha finding out was a looming dread in her mind. But Sango didn't notice and her secret remained a secret for seventeen more hours.

They were staying in a village, still in the east though far from Edo. They were there because a swarm of mutant rat youkai were attacking villages. Inuyasha had scoffed, but the rats had proved more difficult to destroy than they'd anticipated. Kagome still got the chills thinking about them. They were dirty, with bulging beady eyes, beefy tails, and must have weighed thirty or forty pounds each. They were more like rabid dogs than rats and just as violent--sharp teeth, claws, and all. At least they didn't look the least bit human or they never would've been able to stomach the sight of them.

Kagome had used so much of her spiritual energy during that attack that she'd very nearly passed out. There were so many rats that even if she didn't hit the one she was aiming for, half the time she got the one next to it. Problem was, she was only able to take out a few at a time. Five maybe. And she wasn't fast. Several of them had tackled her down and bit her before Inuyasha had been able to save her. She remembered screaming, almost purifying him, and finally breaking down when he carried her, sobbing, away to safety, to watch the rest from the sidelines. Not that she stayed there.

Miroku did well, though he struggled not to take too much of the town into his Kazanna along with the youkai. Sango had pretty much the same trouble with her Hiraikotsu in such a confined space. Inuyasha was more careless of the buildings, though he didn't completely disregard them when he could get a clear shot with his Wind Scar. Kirara was arguably doing the best since she could take a few at a time, not destroy buildings, and seemed to have a particular desire to destroy the disgusting things.

Kagome, to Inuyasha's chagrin, abandoned Shippou in order to rejoin the fight. She was too stubborn to stay out when her friends were having so much trouble. Thankfully, she wasn't hurt much more, though some of the bites from the rats were bleeding. When the battle was over, the headman of the village found rooms for them and Kagome cleaned their wounds, even the perverted monk's. When she finished with Inuyasha, who's wounds she tended last of all, he insisted on cleaning her wounds as well, to which she protested loudly. But he got his way.

The problem didn't come in until he saw a flash of red peeking out under her shirt and thought it was blood. He pushed the fabric back in such a distracting way that a breathless Kagome, who was only slightly angry at him for his forwardness, didn't know what he was looking at until his eyebrows furrowed and he touched the skin there. Even that was distracting until Shippou looked at the part of her stomach he was touching and exclaimed brightly, "It's a lotus!" at which point Kagome's world came crashing down. Her face contorted into an expression of horror and she jumped away from Inuyasha, yanking down her shirt. She stared at her friends for only a second before sprinting out of the room and berating herself for her stupidity.

She had exactly two minutes and fifty-three seconds to exit the building before Inuyasha chased her down. He didn't want her running off and getting into trouble. This wasn't Edo after all and it wasn't even safe there. Kagome was as red as a beet and covering her stomach with her arms. She yelped and stumbled backwards (as she was prone to doing) when he landed in front of her. But he didn't have time to catch her before she crashed down and looked up at him in shock. "Tell me you didn't see that," she pleaded.

He looked confused for a moment. "See what? See you fall on your butt?" he asked, scratching his head.

Kagome covered her face with her hands and moaned. "I'm going to kill my friends when I get back," she muttered.

Miroku, Sango, and Shippou appeared behind her a moment later. She could feel them staring. It was Sango who broke the silence and helped her up. "Kagome-chan? What was that marking?" she asked.

Kagome looked around at her friends and self-consciously pulled her shirt down lower. "It's a… It's a… ah, um…" She squeezed her eyes together for a moment. "It's… EriYukaandAyumimademegetaTATTOO! Ireallydidn'twanttobutIcouldn'thelpit! Mymom'sgonnakillme,ifshefindsout! I'msodead!" she rambled, waving her hands around frantically. Then she wrapped her arms around her stomach protectively again and tried to disappear.

"A tattoo, Kagome-sama?" Miroku asked after a moment. This conclusion was based more on deduction, and a far-away look at her skin when it was revealed, more than her muddled explanation, though he thought he heard the word in there somewhere.

Kagome looked up, seizing on the tone in his voice and trying to banish some of her embarrassment. "It's… don't you have them during this time too? They use needles to draw designs under your skin with ink. S-sesshomaru looks like he might have some on his face, you know?"

Inuyasha scowled and glared at her for reminding him. "Those are demon markings," he corrected petulantly.

Kagome glared back at him. "It was an example, Inuyasha."

"What's it a tattoo of?" asked Miroku.

"A… lotus," she answered hesitantly. "I read about it in a book. It's very symbolic and spiritual. I just thought it was appropriate. And it is my favorite flower…" She smiled slightly at Shippou.

"Can we see it, Kagome-chan?" asked Sango.

"Um… sure," Kagome answered. She blushed but raised her shirt enough to reveal the pretty tattoo on her stomach, and held the other side of her shirt down so that her whole stomach wasn't revealed.

Sango bent over and peered at it and Shippou jumped on her shoulder. Miroku looked at the tattoo briefly, but became more interested in Sango's bottom as she bent over and fought his hand to keep it at his side. Inuyasha was trying not to look curious, but Kagome could tell he was. However, Sango and Shippou were blocking his line of sight and when they pulled back Kagome pulled her shirt back down and cleared her throat.

Inuyasha sighed and folded his hands into his sleeves, following everyone else back inside the building. Maybe he could get a look at the "tattoo" thing later.