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Chapter 2: Changes

Kagome leaned back on her bed, crossing her arms against her chest in an angry fashion, then looked out the window at the night sky and sighed. Makoto wasn't back yet, and it was already dark outside. Now she knew just how her mother felt every time she was gone to the feudal era, and what she thought when Kagome didn't return. There wasn't a day that went by she didn't think about her family on the other side of the well. She thought of how her mother was doing, about her grandfather, she wondered if she would even be able to recognize Souta. He was probably completely grown by now, his own family and everything. Then she wondered about her friends. What did they think when she had so suddenly disappeared? They had grown apart; did her friends even wonder what happened to her so many years ago?

InuYasha must have known what she was thinking, because he walked over and snuggled against her with a low, comforting growl. Kagome turned and buried her head in his haori, allowing his warmth to surround her. "Go and find your son before I kill him." She mumbled. "Maybe I'll make a rosary for him with a spell of its own."

"Keh. Why make a new one? I'll give him mine." Kagome slapped his chest. "What now! It's not like you use it anymore. It'd do a better job on Makoto." InuYasha leaned back. Makoto was seventeen now, eighteen in a few months. How was InuYasha going to deal with him? He had warned his son against that wolf, but he refused to listen. Wolves were different from inu, Akina would mate with whoever her father or brother chose for her. She would be loyal to her pack leaders. The relationship she had with Makoto was just some kind of fling she had to get off of her chest. InuYasha's ears twitched toward the sliding door; he gave a few strong sniffs in the air, and turned back to Kagome. "Makoto's back. He's been with her again." His nose turned up into a look of disgust.

As soon as Makoto entered the hut he was greeted by angry stares. He gulped and prepared himself to be bombarded with lectures and questions, his ears flattening on his head. His Okaasan's glare was the worst, a mixture of anger, love, and worry. Her eyes dropped to scan his ripped and bloodied clothing. "It's not all mine, Okaa. I sniffed out a few youkai around the village and decided to take care of it. I only got a few scratches."

Kagome shook her head. "That's not it, Makoto."

"Yea, the problem is you were out with that wolf again! Haven't you learned your lesson with her yet!"

"InuYasha!"

"I wasn't out with Akina! She came looking for me I told her to get lost! Do you really think I'm that stupid! Do you think I want that back-stabber anywhere near me!" he lowered his eyes to the floor and crossed his arms on his chest, his eyes flaring wildly with his growing anger.

"Listen, Makoto, I know you're not stupid. When you actually use that brain of yours, you're pretty smart. I just don't want you getting caught up with her again, and I don't want you staying gone all day, especially with Kagome in the condition she's in. We need your help around here." InuYasha put a hand on his son's shoulder. "Just quit running off so much and try to help out."

Makoto clinched his fists but remained silent. "I'm going to bed." He replied after moments of mutual silence. He stepped to the side and slid open the door to his side of the hut, closing it again behind him. He plopped down onto his futon, not bothering with his ripped clothes. Makoto hated just leaving his Okaasan staring blankly at him like that, especially since he probably worried her all day. Akina. He thought solemnly. Why had she chosen to play out her little charade on him? These questions and thoughts lingered in his mind as he drifted to sleep.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Don't you give me any of that crap, InuYasha! I told you I was going for a walk. It wasn't my fault you were being too much of a baka to listen!"

"I wasn't being a baka, I was asleep!"

"You were pretending to be asleep, baka!"

"I was not!"

"You were too!"

"Wench, if I said I was asleep, then I was asleep!"

"Stop calling me wench, baka!"

"Stop calling me baka, wench!"

"SIT!"

Shippou and Makoto sat with their arms crossed watching the fight between their parents. InuYasha was back on his feet and yelling about that stupid spell, while Kagome was throwing another fit about something else the hanyou had done.

"Was she like this with me?" Makoto asked, dumbfounded.

"Yep. Don't worry too much about it. It's natural, especially for Okaa and Oyajii. They were down each other's throats before they were even mates. They've been fighting since the first day I met them, you know." Shippou chipped in.

"Having a pup must make it worse." They watched as InuYasha dug himself into an even deeper crater than before.

"Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit!"

"Remind me of this next time I'm about to do something to make Okaasan mad." Makoto replied as he watched his Oyajii burring himself under the 'sit' commands. "And remind me never to take a necklace from her either."

"Yep." Shippou grinned as he watched InuYasha go under even more sits. "You think he'll give in soon?"

"Nope."

"Knock out?"

"Yep." It was something the brothers had grown use to. There were two outcomes in a fight this fierce: either InuYasha would give in and walk away, or he would keep arguing until his 'sit's rendered him unconscious. "I'm going out." Makoto said, standing to his feet. His parents stopped fighting long enough to stare at their son with questionable glances. "Outside," he pointed to the door, "you know, of the hut. I'm not going anywhere. Just…out." He rolled his eyes and opened the sliding door. Shippou stood, giving Kagome and InuYasha a silent nod and followed his brother outside. They walked in silence with no real destination in mind. "They act like I'm going to run out on them or something. I just don't understand what they think I'm going to do."

"They think you're going to go running back to Akina, that's what they think." Shippou replied, stopping and staring up into the bright morning sky.

"Do Okaa and Oyajii really think I'm that stupid? Sure, once was stupid enough. But I'm never going back to her."

"Stupid, yes. Unheard of, no. Oyajii once had the same problem, you know. Back before, when we were still looking for the Shikon shards, he had a choice to make himself. Kikyou. She betrayed Oyajii, on more than one occasion. But when her soul collectors came, sure enough he would follow them. He almost lost Okaasan because of it, too. So I can see why they're both worried that you'll go back to Akina. Just trust me, a girl like that doesn't deserve anyone."

Makoto turned his back to Shippou, ears flat and eyes downcast. "I really thought…" his voice trailed off. "…maybe…she…" he sighed, unable to finish his own thoughts. To tell the truth, they were too jumbled in his head for even him to decipher. Part of him hated Akina for what she did. He blamed her for his broken heart, his shattered dreams. About the last day he went to the wolves' den for her? They had been seeing each other for a while by then, and that day he was going to ask her to be his mate.

He didn't tell anyone, not even Shippou, about his true intentions that day. Growing up together, he thought he knew her. Now one side of him only resented that they had even met. The other side, the side that still loved her? Well, that side only blamed himself. Maybe he wasn't good enough; maybe he did something or said something to drive her away. Maybe it was because of what he was, a hanyou. It hurt him so much. He…trusted her, loved her, only to have his heart ripped out twice and stomped into the dirt. He WAS dirt. He felt lower than dirt.

Makoto had heard the stories of his father's past, about him growing up on his own after his own mother died. How he wasn't 'welcome' in any of the human villages, or by any youkai. Makoto was lucky enough to live in a village where he was welcomed. His father had seen to that, too. He and Kagome together were the protectors of the small village. No one openly complained about the hanyous, but it didn't mean it wasn't there. When he was smaller, he didn't understand the whispers and taunts. Now that he was older, he knew all too well what they were. Even his own uncle, Sesshomaru, didn't seem to like the fact that Makoto had human blood. Was it really so bad to be part human and part youkai?

"Don't think too much, you might hurt yourself." Makoto pulled himself out of his thoughts at Shippou's words. "I know what you were thinking about, and don't. She betrayed you. It's as simple as that."

"I know. I just really thought…"

"You just thought she was the same wolf you grew up with."

"Well, yea. Kigai hasn't changed. Why did she have to change? Why did Akina have to…"

"Shhh." Shippou's tail twitched and he sniffed the air. "Something's here. I heard it." He gave a few more good sniffs. His senses weren't as good as an inu-youkai. "I can't smell anything, what about you?"

Makoto followed suit, sniffing the air and twitching his ears to sounds. "Nothing. Something downwind, maybe? I bet…ooof!" his reply was cut short. Out of nowhere he was hit from the side and sent sprawling out on the ground. Shippou was by his side in an instant, helping him to his feet. "What the…?" he looked around for what had hit him. Not two yards away was a figure just pulling itself to it's feet. Long black hair twisted and mangled, the green kimono well worn. It was a girl. No one Makoto had ever seen before. She turned as she stood, hair flying behind her. Her eyes were a piercing emerald green, scared and confused. Her lips where curled to revel long fangs. Fangs? He thought. Yes, fangs, and dog-like ears on her head, too. A hanyou, this girl was a hanyou. Not an inu, no, her scent was different. She was a wolf-hanyou. Before Makoto or Shippou had the chance to stop her, she was on her feet and running again.

"What was up with that?" Shippou pondered out loud.

Makoto growled low in his throat. "GET BACK HERE, BAKA!" he yelled into the forest. "Oyajii was right. Those mangy wolves' are all worthless, especially the she-wolves. Keh. It's like they're out to get me." He rubbed the back of his head where it had hit the ground. "And I don't even know who that one is."

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Makoto sat with his legs crossed against the side of Miroku and Sango's hut. Kagome had wanted to check up on Sango, and since InuYasha was still knocked out cold on the floor, Makoto had taken on the job of being her escort into the village.

"Makoto, are you just going to sit there all day? Why don't you come and play with me?" Yumi stretched out her arms, offering a small red ball with a smile.

"Not today, Yumi. For some reason, I've got a headache." He instinctively rubbed the back of his head, feeling the knot that had formed.

The little girl sighed and sat down next to him. She pulled on a string of cloth coming from the hanyou's still ripped clothing, then pulled at the tear, then ripping a piece off entirely. She looked up at Makoto to see if he had seen it, but smiled when he showed no reactions at all. Yumi continued looking up at him, until her eyes reached his twitching ears. She reached up with her small hand and grabbed hold of one.

"Hey!" he pulled her hand away. "You know better than to touch my ears." He gave the girl a stern gaze, but softened it again when her bottom lip starting trembling in a sign she was about to cry. He sighed. "Fine. But only once." Why do I always give in? He sighed as Yumi latched onto one of his ears and proceeded to rub. He rolled his eyes when he saw two other girls bouncing up the path, eyes going wide when they saw their little sister playing with his ears. "No! Oh no! Don't even…" Cho latched onto the free ear while Hana fought over control of the other with Yumi.

"No, Hana, Makoto said I could scratch his ears! You didn't even ask!" Yumi crossed her arms in a pout.

Hana smilingly continued scratching his ears, ignoring the whining of her little sister. "I want to rub his ears! He never lets me rubs his ears, it's not fair."

Makoto stood, making the girls relinquish their hold on his ears. "That's enough! Cho, Hana, Yumi, all three of you go play somewhere else. Go play with Shippou or Mai."

"We can't." Cho spoke up. "Shippou and Tani left a little while ago visiting her brother in the next village and Mia and Kisho are busy in the village. He is the headman's son after all. The only one who's not busy with someone else is you." She smiled at him sweetly.

Just great. Even she knows how lame I am. "Look, why don't you three just go play with each other for awhile. Go find those boys in the village or something. I'm sure I'll get a kick at seen Miroku chasing them down again."

"Makoto, where's Kagome?" InuYasha came strolling up from the path, an obvious bump on the back of his head, almost matching the one Makoto received from his previous encounter.

"She's in the hut with obasan (aunt)." Makoto pointed over his shoulder toward the door.

"Makoto, InuYasha. Has Kagome finished yet with Sango?" the monk approached the two hanyous. Lately he had been on edge, with Sango's strange illness and his daughters running all over him. "It would be great to finally know what is causing all her problems."

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Gees. Can I get some help over here?" Kagome waddled out the door cradling the small of her back with one hand. InuYasha rushed over to her, supporting her as she walked to Miroku. "Well, I know what's wrong with Sango now. And I don't think you're going to like it too much."

Miroku gulped. "Wh-what is it? In Sango going to be okay? Is there anything at all you can do for her?"

"Calm down, it's nothing like that. She'll be fine; it's you I'm worried about. Sango is going through menopause." All three men just stared at her. She rolled her eyes. "Menopause. The change?" there expressions were blank. "Sango is getting to where she cannot have anymore children. Now Miroku, you're going to have to be really sensitive to her needs right now."

"What exactly should I come to expect?"

"Periods of hot and cold, major mood swings, severe sensitivity in her emotions. That's why you'll have to be very careful while you are around her. She'll anger very quickly if you upset her enough." Kagome said in a low voice. "And don't mention anything about it to her. That will only upset her more."

"Mood swings! How long will this last?"

"I can't say. Some don't even seem to have any of the symptoms. Others have them for years, or even for the rest of their lives. It really depends on the person."

"M-m-mood swings? How bad of mood swings are you talking about? Not like when she was pregnant, I hope." Miroku thought back to all Sango's pregnancies. With Mai he only needed a few simple stitches, with Cho it was stitches across the length of his brow, with Hana it was a broken wrist and with Yumi Sango had dislocated his shoulder. All of them started with Sango getting angry at some trivial matter and ended with Miroku getting fixed up by Keade or Kagome and Sango crying that she had hurt him so badly. If she was going to be going through more of those kind of mood swings, he was going to have to buy a suit of armor or something for his own protection.

"Most likely." Kagome replied. InuYasha smirked. The monk was getting exactly what he deserved.

A/N::sweatdrop: ehe… thanks to a couple of reviewers for pointing out the translation mistake. Apparently one of my sources isn't that reliable. Extra points to you two! Usagi doesn't mean Moon, its Rabbit. :shrugs: My bad.

So… we're not suppose to 'interact' with my reviewers here… bummer. But, I have defied them. :evil laugh: I have set up a website where you can view my answers to your reviews! Sadly, no more awards will be given. :sly grin: I've instead have gone to a point system! Every review gives you at least one point, more points depending on how much I like the review. I'll also have trivia questions that will give you even more points!

Question #1:

I've heard many pairings of Shippou and the little sister of the Thunder Brothers. So… If you can tell me what the baby would be called (pup, kit, baby, ect…) it's worth 5pts. Review away::wink: