It has been a rough year already :)
Kagome was being babysat, well she wouldn't call it being babysat but she definitely had Ginta and Hakaku looking after her, even though they were wandering the stalls, she could tell they were looking out for her, from the corner of their eyes as they mindlessly looked through the trinkets.
Since finding out that Kagome was on her cycle, a slightly flustered Kouga had offered to take her to a nearby village to get whatever materials a woman may need, and other things that she required to make her stay more comfortable. At first, she had said she was okay, and claimed to be quite comfortable, until he pressed her and she in embarrassment she admitted that she didn't have any money or any trading goods, after all she had lived a fairly comfortable life, with inuyasha being able to hunt for food, and all her items had been at their place, plus being a priestess helping fight off demons and helping heal people came with perks, people were willing to trade food and money, not that she ever accepted it.
Kouga was kind enough to offer her some gold, and after a small argument had taken place, where she argued her refusal to take the gold because it felt wrong and that she hadn't earned it, and him citing that he never needed it and they had plenty, having lived a few hundred years, kouga had accumulated quite a heavy sum, but had never bothered to use it, back in his earlier years, before kagome, if he ever needed anything from the humans he would simply kill or take it from them, but he had changed.
Finally she had given in, after an exasperated kouga told her that if she did not take it, he would personally go to the village and get whatever clothing the humans would sell him, and it would be the finest materials he could find. She had sighed and agreed, but the guilt overwhelmed her, at this point she felt that she was taking advantage of him and his kindness, she could ask him anything and he would only be too happy to supply her with whatever, but she was glad he had insisted, she needed cotton for her cycle, and a lot of it, living in the feudal era came with its downsides. God she missed pads.
They set on their small journey to a nearby village, once they arrived kouga had told her that he would be back, saying he had a few errands to run, and told ginta and hakkaku sternly to protect kagome, and if anything happened to her, he would- well they knew what would happen to them, his companions nodded, promising that no harm would come to their sister kagome, and off he went.
Kagome sighed, staring at all the kimonos, they were very lovely but the idea of using his money, the guilt gnawed at her, but knowing his stubbornness, she would have to find something, and so she went stall to stall hoping to find just the bare essentials.
He had been running ever since he dropped off kagome and told her goodbye, and even though there was enough daylight to run back and forth to his destination, without his shards it had slowed him down, but kouga was on a mission and he wanted to be back with kagome as soon as he could, he trusted ginta and hakkaku well enough, but not protecting her himself, made him a little uneasy. He slowed down once the village he looked for came into view, hidden by the small dip of the hill, finally he had arrived. He caught a small whiff of dog and mentally gagged, trying to hold in his anger, and reminded himself why he even came here.
He ran down the hill sniffing the area, until he smelled his targets, there! The closer he got the stronger their scents were in one specific hut, perfect! He had to be careful, he knew the dog was nearby, towards the end of naraku's death they had been somewhat civil towards each other, but knowing what he had done to kagome, well it was the tipping point. He approached the hut and knocked tentatively, his sensitive ears picking up someone moving towards the door, he heard a grunt and slowly the door slid open, but he did not see anyone.
"Kouga!" He heard a surprised squeak, and he looked down to see the little kitsune he had once kidnapped looking up at him, small drops of sweat starting to form on the tiny demon's head.
"Yo," he smirked, "relax kid, I'm not gonna steal you again," that would have reassured shippo, had he been concerned about that, but what worried him was telling him that Kagome was not home, and he didn't know where he was. No one knew.
"Umm…kouga-" he was interrupted by Sango.
"Shippo who is it?" he heard the woman call out.
"It's kouga!" shippo replied, hoping sango would come to the door, he wasn't sure what kouga would do once he found out Kagome had been missing, the man was a brute, he and inuyasha were when it came down to kagome, but he sensed that the wolf demon would't be as bad as inuyasha.
"Oh!" kouga heard her put something down and came out of a room, she was holding a small tea pot, "kouga! Hi…uh please come in!' she motioned him in.
Kouga had not expected her to welcome him in, in fact he was expecting to talk to her as soon as he could and be out soon, but nothing was really that simple, especially with humans,
Kouga nodded, and walked into the room, as the fox struggled to close the door, and ran to sango. He sensed the unease radiating off of them. Could his presence really be that bad?
"Would you like some tea? Please sit! We have some cushions you can sit on," she pointed at a corner, where they were stacked up, "I would sit down with you but I'm afraid I would not be able to get up," she said looking down fondly at her belly, and gently rubbed it.
He shook his head, "I'm okay" he said sitting down the ground, "I don't drink tea" well he did, but only on the rare occasion that he was sick and it was a disgusting concoction that made him stray from any tea.
Sango nodded, pulling a strange looking object towards her and sat down so she was slightly elevated "so kouga what brings you by?" she said putting down the tea pot on the small table in front of him, "not that you aren't welcome but..well..I don't know how to tell you this but uh Kagome isn't here…she…" she bit her tongue trying to think of how to form her sentence "I don't know where she's at…we've been trying to find her for a few days but.." she trailed off, looking down at the ground with watery eyes. He could sense her slight panic rising as she struggled to find the words.
"I know where she's at, she's safe" her head snapped towards him, a questioning look on her face, "she's with me, Ginta and Hakkkau found her and brought her to me, so she's been staying at my place" relief washed over sango's face.
"So she's safe? I'm so glad," she whispered rubbing her face, "is she…okay? I don't know what she told you..but is she okay?"
"She told me what happened between the hanyo and her, and the other woman, physically she's fine, they found her slightly bruised, but mentally.." how could he word this? "I don't think she's …fully okay, I think her heart hurts, she had been crying for the first few days…but I think she's doing better, but uh that's kinda the reason I came here and also she's on her cycle" he admitted, his cheeks flushing. It had been difficult to be near her.
Sango waited for him to continue, nodding.
"I'm scared she's gonna be sad for a while so I've been thinking of ways to make her happy y'know?"
"Ah! So you want ideas," she smiled, of course he would, this man had been over the moon for kagome many years ago, but she frowned, wasn't he with someone?
"Well that's part of it, but I was also hoping you could come see her, you and the monk," he heard a cough coming from the kitsune, "and you too runt" he smiled at the child's weak protest of being called a runt.
"Of course I would love to come, but it might be difficult to make the journey with me being with child, and I get tired easily" she motioned towards her swollen belly, even getting out of her sleeping position was a struggle, and when she managed to get dressed, she would feel winded with beads of sweat forming as if she had been running. Ah the joys of pregnancy.
He nodded, "of course I understand, that with your situation it might be difficult, but I think I have a way of getting you there, I would have my men escort you in a norimono, so you could be comfortable, and take breaks, but just you and the kid, the monk would have to walk, and as for the cliff's nearby, I would have kagome come down to see you or we could get you up somehow, I would also be there if you require it but I-I also want to stay with kagome," he muttered the last part as his ears colored a deep red.
Sango beamed at his plan, "really? You came all this way to ask us to come visit her?"
"Of course, she's my friend, I- I want her to smile again, a real smile." tripping over his words, she was a friend of course, but would he go out of his way for any friend?
Sango's eyes began tearing up, her friend was safe and kouga was willing to come get some help from them, of course she knew it wasn't exactly out of friendship, the poor man was still in love with kagome no matter how much he tried shielding it from her.
"I'm sorry! I don't know what I said!" seeing sango's eyes tear up, he panicked, he hadn't dealt with many women, well pregnant ones at least, the females in his tribe would carry the pups for a few months, birth them and that was it, their emotions rarely changing. The only time he saw mothers angry was to protect their young.
She wiped a tear away, "no..no it's okay, I'm just so happy she has such a…thoughtful friend," she turned her head towards the door, thinking.
"I'll come tomorrow, but if I can request that your men meet us a little further away from our home near the well you see I don't want him causing issues for them, and there's no need for you to come get us personally, we can handle it, and even though I'm pregnant I can still fight, please take care of kagome, will you please tell her I said hello and that I miss her?"
"Actually, I was hoping it would be a surprise for her, but I can if you want me to I-"
Sango cut him off
"No, no a surprise would be better actually, and oh! Please wait a moment." she said getting up, going to a different room, being careful as to not wake her husband, but he heard her rummaging around through boxes.
"Sango?" he murmured, slowly waking up from his nap "what's wrong?"
"Nothing, just looking for kagome's clothes," she whispered, after the incident, inuyasha and miroku had met so he could retrieve her clothes in case she came back, after all it wasn't like kikyo was going to use them.
"ah, is she back!" he said perking up, finally fully awake, ready to welcome his friend back.
"No, but kouga's here to get her stuff," she said finally finding the correct boxes
"Kouga?" he got up, taking the boxes from her hand and helping his wife up.
He followed her out of the room and saw kouga talking quietly with Shippo, the little kitsune smiling at something kouga had said
"Kouga, how are you?" the monk interrupted
"Fine and you monk?"
"I'm fine, is kagome here?" he said looking around.
"No, but she's safe, I trust that you'll tell him?" he said looking at sango.
"Yes of course, here these are her belongings, it should be her clothes, and some other things, and oh, shoot I forgot, but it's outside, it's her…hmm I forget what she calls it,"
"Her bike." miroku offered, "I'll help you get it, ah when you leave."
"I was planning on leaving now actually, I need to get back to kagome."
"Of course," miroku motioned towards the door, "I'll go show you where it's at."
He nodded, and slid the door open, "thank you, I hope to see you tomorrow." he waved at sango.
"Thank you for taking care of her." she smiled at him.
"Of course."
Miroku showed her the bike, it had been stored behind their home behind a tree, and as much as kouga had wanted to bring her bike he figured that her clothes were top priority.
"My men can bring it to us tomorrow, can you take it near the well tomorrow? One of them can carry it."
"That's fine, I'll bring it tomorrow, how is kagome? I'm assuming she's okay."
"She's doing okay, I think that uhh..." what was that woman's name? Sangi? San..san something.
"Sango,"
"Yes sango will tell you, i'm kinda in a rush sorry monk." he said looking up at the sky, he wasn't behind schedule but being apart from her still made him uncomfortable.
" I'll go ask her, see you tomorrow, I also need to go get some things for tomorrow." Miroku waved and headed off.
He nodded, and walked away planning to leave when the smell of the hanyo was overwhelming as he rounded the corner of the house.
"Oi watch it mutt." he grunted, balancing the boxes as the half breed bumped into him.
"Kouga!? Keh I thought it reeked of wolf." he retorted, bringing his red sleeve up to his nose in an exaggerated attempt to show his displeasure," What are you doing here and-" he sniffed, catching the scent of kagome on the demon, "where's kagome?" he growled.
"What's it to ya mutt? Not had enough of hurting her?" the hanyo's ears dropped at kouga's words, so he knew, of course he knew, the entire village knew.
"Shut up! You know nothing, now tell me where she is! Or I'll beat it outta ya!" he said taking a defensive stance, but kouga merely snorted.
"Hmph whatever mutt face I don't have time for you." He wasn't here to fight, he reminded himself for the hundredth time, he had to show restraint and not try to beat the hanyo to pulp, no matter how angry he was.
"Answer my damn-!"
A sharp feminine voice interrupted, "inuyasha!" inuyasha's ears perked up and he straightened up, turning around to see the cool gaze of his mate, kikyo, who was watching him with a frown. When had she gotten there?
Kouga's glance flipped towards her, his nose wrinkling at the smell of dirt that oozed from her. Was this woman really the cause of kagome's heartbreak? She was so… different from kagome, so dull, so lifeless literally and metaphorically, and so so cold, not because she was empty, well that was part of it, but Kagome was always so full of life, so energetic in meeting people and this woman was definitely not that, she seemed so stern and strict. Her cool gaze switched to kouga briefly and he felt goosebumps, no, he didn't get a good feeling from her at all, she wasn't evil but her aura was unbecoming. The few times he had met her, she had smelled off, but what was it that kept the dog coming back to her and hurting kagome over and over?
"Coming kikyo.." the mutt muttered, eyeing the boxes that the demon carried suspiciously, what was in those boxes?
Kouga rolled his eyes, man was the mutt whipped, and he turned to walk away when he heard the half demon ask him.
"Is she safe…is she…okay?" his chest tightened uncomfortably, he hated knowing that the wolf had her, or at least was around her, but what could he really do? He hated relying on kouga for that vital information, but unless he was risking making kikyo mad, he was powerless.
"Don't concern yourself anymore Inuyasha."
"Hey I'm asking you a question," he said almost whispering, dull, golden eyes staring down at the dirt "I just want to know…"
"Do you honestly think you deserve to know?" kouga said coldly not turning his head to look at the half demon, "but yea, she's safe." he hadn't bothered to answer the latter question, because in all honesty he didn't really know, and he didn't want the half demon knowing.
Inuyasha nodded slowly, to himself, turning to go back to kikyo, he had felt guilt in how things turned out, when he found out she was missing, he wanted to go out and find her, but kikyo had weaponized that, saying that if he went to go looking for her, it would be clear to her that he still had feelings for kagome, so he hadn't joined the search party. And as much as he wanted to go, he couldn't risk kikyo being upset with him, so he stayed at home sulking, and meeting up with mirkou at a separate empty hut.
After everything, sango's anger would make him uncomfortable, it was like its own miasma, prickling at his skin, the hairs on the back of his neck standing if he was around her for too long. God knew if given the chance, she'd use the hiraikotsu and- he shuddered, she could probably make it seem like an accident too. Things had changed since kagome left, their end of the week dinner's stopped, kagome had been the glue that held them together, and he missed it, he missed seeing his friends often, even Shippo had refused to step foot near him without him giving a stink eye.
He would ask miroku if they had found her, with the monk shaking his head sadly, day after day the head shake was there. Miroku hadn't wandered far looking for her, after all he had a pregnant wife to look after and well shippo..when the little demon found out what had happened, he threw the biggest tantrum they had ever seen, he had kicked inuyasha rightly so in his shin, and told him he hated him, his words had stung, and shippo quickly left their home after that and joined Sango and Miroku, who took him in.
Inuyasha suppressed a growl, he had no right of course, he knew that, he knew that after so many countless times of hurting kagome, and her forgiving him, his time had run out, in the end he couldn't have both. He swallowed thickly, and walked back to his mate, who had decided that her patience had run out and was walking away. He turned to take a quick look at the wolf, hoping to catch a last scent of her, but he was gone.
Kagome had found a few items that she wanted and would use, a bucket and a washboard for her clothes, as much as she liked bathing she couldn't keep wearing her dirty kimono, a few soaps and of course cotton and paper for her cycle. She had looked over the kimonos, they were beautiful and she had plenty of money left, but she settled on 6 kimonos, each with different patterns, they were cheap but lovely, and for now they would do, she sighed, content with her purchases and she wandered around the village, when a small trinket stall caught her eyes, small wooden carvings and stones were displayed out, she saw a small wooden wolf and smiled picking it up and studied it. She smiled at it, it was the face of a wolf with a calm demeanor carved on his face, it had a small hole at the top, big enough for string to go through it.
"See anything ya like?" an old man who had been quietly watching her study his carvings finally spoke up, startling kagome.
"Ah yes! This wolf statue is lovely," she sighed and shook her head, "but I can't."
The old man nodded, "I can give ye a discount, I'm trying to sell as many as I can."
"Really? Why? They're so lovely. Why would you want to sell them so quickly?" she looked at him, noticing the deep wrinkles in his face and worry lines etched on his forehead.
The man smiled kindly at her, "i'm tryna get my wife a good healer, I heard of a priestess that comes and goes and helps heal people, but she hasn't been around, so i'm selling these in hopes I can buy her some medicine or have someone take a look at her"
Kagome frowned, she was sure who the priestess was, but her heart broke a little seeing the old man wanting to sell his items quickly and cheaply, "if I may ask, what's wrong with your wife?"
The old man sighed, looking down at the ground, "she's had a fever for the past few days, and she says her bones hurt her, I can't carry her out of town or go out of town for a doctor, she says her throat hurts, and she's cold no matter how many blankets she has"
Kagome nodded gently, it had sounded like a cold to her, "I can help your wife," she smiled
"Oh thank you…but I'm afraid I can't pay you a lot."
She shook her head, "you don't have to pay me, but I'll be back okay, I'm going to gather some herbs.
Kagome gently pressed the cold rag to the old woman's head and she groaned at the sharpness.
"I'm sorry, but this is a way to get your fever down," kagome said gently, the old woman nodded weakly, too tired to respond, she grabbed a new rag and dipped it in the water and wrung it, and placed it on the woman's neck, she turned to look at the old man, who sat with a worried expression on his face.
"Is…she going to be okay?" he asked, frowning.
"I think she will be, I think she just has a cold, but since she's a little bit older it hit her harder, you'll have to replace the rags every two hours when they're close to being warm or dry," she instructed,"you'll also need to give her a tea okay? I already cut up some of the ginger and peeled off the skin, but boil it for a bit until its hot, then add it to some hot water and let it cool, don't let her eat the ginger it won't taste good, and add honey to it to sweeten it, the honey will help her throat, okay?"
The old man nodded, "is there anything else I should do?"
"Oh yes, here," she grabbed some mint, "take these and make these into a tea, just boil water and pour it over the leaves, this will help with her headaches and some of her aches, you an even rub some of the mint on her back and leave it there to help her, I'll stay with her until my…my friend comes back.l" she said, seeing the relief wash over the old man's face
"Oh thank you…" he said, kneeling down next to his wife. He grabbed her hand and gently stroked it, as his wife squeezed his hand faintly. Kagome smiled, in sickness and in health that's what she wanted.
"Here ya go priestess." the old man handed her two small pouches.
"Oh please I don't need payment." she replied gently pushing them back.
"Consider them gifts, 'sides my wife would be upset" he smiled
"Thank you," she said, opening the pouches and smiled. Inside was the small wolf carving she had eyed earlier and a green jade stone, wrapped in some rope to hold it.
"What's this stone?"
"ah it's jade, it's said to protect the owner of it, give it to your husband or boyfriend."
Kagome blushed, "oh…oh no he's my friend!"
The man smiled kindly at her, "so it's a one sided love I see," shaking his head and chuckled, "was the same for me and my wife, I was after her all the time, professing my love for her, giving her flowers, promising to make her my wife one day until one day she gave in."
Kagome smiled, "that's so sweet, but he's my friend." she giggled.
The man nodded, "Well I won't press ya, but the way that boy stares at ya, he loves ya, and look there he is!" he had seen him drop Kagome off and stare at her the way he used to stare at his wife when they were young.
Kagome turned, and indeed kouga was headed towards them at full speed, cradling some boxes, she waved at him and he smiled, afraid of dropping her items.
"Oi kagome!" he shouted as he neared them, kagome quickly hid the gifts in her kimono, and smiled.
"Kouga your back!"
He grinned, "did ya get everything you needed kagome?"
"Yes I did! I think I'm all ready." she said walking behind the stall and retrieving her boxes.
"Ginta, hakkaku, help her." he motioned at his friends who had come out from behind the stall.
"It's okay! I don-"
"It's okay sis, besides kouga needs to carry you!" Hakkakku offered. Kagome simply nodded, climbing onto his back and they set off back home.
"And then she told me to leave!" Inuyasha huffed, crossing his arms, after seeing the wolf and catching up with kikyo in their hut they had gotten into a small spat, well not that small since she had asked him to leave.
Miroku sighed nodding, taking a sip out of his tea, "well, she is the woman in your life now and you chose her, but think about it too. Do you really have a right to be asking about kagome's well-being?"
"Well I uh," he scratched his head, did he have the right? Surely he did, they had been together for years.
" Inuyasha," the monks eyes droned in on him, "I'm only telling you this because you're my friend, but pick a side and stay on it, or at least give it some time, because right now even kikyo is upset with you, and feeling very hurt with your concern over kagome." he paused taking another sip.
"Why would she be upset? I mean I was just wondering if she was okay…" he trailed off.
"She might think you're second guessing, and I'm sure kikyo has her own insecurities too, just don't bring her up okay? As far as I know kagome is doing okay."
"What would kikyo even be insecure about? She's the most powerful priestess, and she can heal people, she's beautiful," he brought a claw up to his head and scratched it thinking of what would have kikyo be insecure.
"And she can't have children." miroku stated.
"Why cause she's a priestess?" I'm sure when she's tired of being one we ca-"
Miroku stopped him, and shook his head, "no inuyasha…that's not what I mean. Kikyo cannot physically have children, she's made of clay, the earth" he saw anger flash in the hanyo's eyes, "it's not an insult to her inuyasha, that's the reality , she cannot give you children or age like a normal human."
Inuyasha was about to speak when they heard sango calling for him.
"Guess I have to go now, I'll see you around friend." he got up and dusted his robe off.
Ever since Kagome had left, Sango had banned Inuyasha from their home, so they had been meeting secretly in Kaede's hut while she was out running errands. It made inuyasha sad, but he understood and wasn't too thrilled with the idea of sango's miasma near him. Inuyasha sighed and watched his friend leave, would it always be this way? He shook his head and poured out the rest of the tea, wondering if he should stay and talk to kaede, but shook his head. Even kaede would give him odd looks, the two sisters never did reconcile. He stoked the dying fire, thinking as he watched the fire gently disappear into a small trail of black smoke.
