Despite Inuyasha's rage, Sango felt it necessary to continue, breaking the quiet that had overcome them after she had dispensed her theory. Speaking over the growl that Inuyasha still chewed on through clenched fangs, the slayer spoke,
"If it is true that this being is motivated by mating with Kagome, this curse she is inflicted with is directly tied to what was put in her drink, which, if I'm right, would be this creature's own blood."
"His… blood?" Miroku questioned, opening his eyes slightly, just as Inuyasha's growl darkened further.
"How dare he." The hanyou rumbled. "How dare he do this to her!"
"Such an ingredient would tie Kagome to him," Sango looked down at her hands, frowning. "Inuyasha, how was she before you came through the well?"
"Normal." Inuyasha's voice maintained its serrated tenure, but he answered Sango, knowing he couldn't defeat this problem with feral determination alone. "She seemed to be tired and a little weak, but she was up and present, speaking, she wasn't… she wasn't like this."
"I see." Sango nodded, taking in the information which, thankfully, added important context to the scenario. "That all but confirms it; her distance from this creature could be what causes her illness to come back. He's staked his claim on her."
"Staked…his… claim?" Inuyasha roared, rising to his feet as Sango cringed back.
"Inuyasha…" Miroku warned, inching toward Sango and his infant with a glare in the hanyou's direction.
Inuyasha grumbled but came back down to a seated position, issuing a short apology before letting out a gruff heft of breath. Sango regarded her blushing half demon friend with a knowing glance, calming him with her hands out flat before her in a gesture that bid him to disarm,
"Not anything like, say, what your bite would do." She noted that his face remained anguished, but his ears twitched in response to her reassurance, "His spell would be just enough, as I said, to tie himself to her. It is likely you stopped him before he could complete this attempt at what seems to be little more than a spiritual claim. If this creature is somehow stuck as a human, it is probable that all they can do to claim her is use a dark spell, for now, and as they had intended to – physically."
"But to what end?" Kaede pondered, having listened carefully to the words shared between Sango and Inuyasha, rolling the information over in her mind as more became revealed. "If this creature is, as we suspect, somehow trapped as a human, it will not be able to activate a demon mating process; what could they possibly hope to achieve?"
"If they are tied to Kagome, is it possible they could get through the well?" Miroku spoke, and a silence again fell upon the group.
"Or absorb her power." Sango responded, her voice heavy with dark implication. "We all know that Kagome has a great spiritual power; if something became aware of that and wished to use it, the mating bond of a demon would be enough to curb her will and exploit her abilities. It is not only possible they may be able to travel through the well, but perhaps utilize this for other means; to become stronger, and who knows what they plan to use that strength with? But one thing is clear. This entity needs to be found and destroyed."
"Consider it done." Inuyasha stood, cracking his knuckles.
"Wait, Inuyasha." Miroku stood as well, placing one hand on his friend's shoulder. "You said yourself that you could not track this attacker by scent alone. Now, I know you'll be against it, but Kagome should go with you. If distance from this demon causes her pain, it will likely cause this creature pain as well. If you bring her with you through the well, surely her ailments will ease the closer you get to the attacker you seek. As well, sensing Kagome's proximity, the one who has done this to her will likely come forth."
"It is too bad." Kaede sighed mournfully, rising slowly herself with a slight groan, "As we have all missed Kagome, and dear Shippo has not yet returned from his trials to greet her. Alas, we shall have to inform him of the well's reopening; though, who knows for how long that may be."
"Could this entity have something to do with that?" Inuyasha snapped, ears flattening. Would destroying the demon close the portal once more, sending him back into the feudal era to be separated from Kagome?
Would that truly be the end?
"This entity is not strong enough to maintain its original form," Miroku comforted his friend, "Surely, if it has to use a cheap spell to attack a human like Kagome, even with her spiritual powers, I sincerely doubt it would be able to do what we have failed to for so long."
"I… I guess." Inuyasha sighed, only temporarily relieved. "In any case, you're right, Miroku, though I hate to admit it. If Kagome is going to get worse by staying here, I'll have to bring her back with me. I just wish you two were able to travel through the well; we have no one there to protect her or her family."
"Don't underestimate her," Sango spoke, still gripping Kagome's hand as she watched her face for signs of wakefulness. "Kagome has always been strong, and you two are a good team. You will defeat this enemy as you always have, and then you'll return. I know it."
"Sango is right." Kaede nodded, "Believe in the abilities ye have always relied on. Remember that Kagome helped strengthen ye before. It will be the same again."
"I never wanted her to have to fight again." Inuyasha's shoulders slumped.
"Sango?"
The slayer's eyes widened just as Kagome's began to flutter, expression struggling through intermittent bouts of resurfacing cognisance.
"Kagome, you are awake!" Sango's smile was cautious but infectious, mirrored by the girl below her who tensed her fingers in a weak but friendly squeeze.
"I'm so sorry this is how…" fatigued from the effort of her words, she stopped to take in a deep breath, then continued, "This is how we're meeting."
"Don't worry, Kagome." Miroku piped up, lowering his hands and gently abandoning the prayer he had been holding to greet his friend with his full attention. "We've had a good talk about strategy, and it shouldn't take too long before we can have a proper reunion."
"Oh, Miroku!" Kagome gasped, her smile growing wider. She began to sit up, despite the way each of her friends leaned forward apprehensively to watch her slowly lift herself from the ground.
Watching her with growing unease, Inuyasha finally reanimated and made his way to where she was sitting, crouching down to rest his hand on Kagome's shoulder and urged her with an anxious look. She took this suggestion gladly and came to a rest against his chest, allowing his arms to wrap around her and hold her firmly. The bulging eyes of their companions reminded her that it was the first time they had seen the two so physically affectionate in a very long time, and yet, although embarrassment flooded through her, she knew if she sat up for too long on her own she might run out of energy. She wanted to savour this moment with everyone she had missed, no matter how she felt. Facing Sango, she took in the sight of the seemingly unchanged woman, her long hair diving down past her shoulders to curl around – Kagome gasped.
"Is that your baby?" She breathed, "Sango, Miroku, congratulations!"
"Our other two are here," Sango smiled, "Are you up to meeting them?"
Kagome nodded shortly, beaming, and pulled a little away from Inuyasha, adapting a more casual stance as Miroku called for Gyokuto and Kin'u to come back inside. Two identical little girls with short bobs ran into the room brandishing armfuls of flowers that leaked petals to the floor in a grand succession behind them; chattering excitedly, they plopped down next to their mother and offered her a floral wreath.
"Thank you, girls, it's beautiful." Sango graciously thanked the children, then gestured toward Kagome, "Your Auntie has woken up; this is your mother and father's very good friend from before you were born. Say hi to Kagome-sama."
"Kagome-sama!" Kin'u squealed and skipped in a lazy moth-like fashion to her new Aunt's side, holding out a tiny bouquet with her small, pink hand.
Kagome took the flowers, smiling kindly.
"Why thank you so much, these are gorgeous!" Her appreciation made the girl flash a grin back at her, more so when she held them to her face and gave them a small sniff, then held them to Inuyasha, who looked away immediately, holding back a sneeze. Turning to the other child shyly sitting near Sango with her legs beneath her, watching Kagome with a curious expression, Kagome added, "It's very nice to meet you both. You look so much like your parents!"
Kin'u offered a tiny bow and retreated to her father's lap, pulling herself into his dark robes and climbing up his legs to seat herself. Miroku patted the girl on the head, sticking his tongue out at her so she dissolved in an eruption of giggles.
"Parenthood suits you two." Kagome's weakening voice washed over them in a warm positivity they had missed, "I'm so happy for you."
"I'm happy you have met them." Sango began unclipping the shawl-like blanket that had held her infant to her chest. It was about time to feed him again, but before she left to do so in private, she had one more mission to complete. Quietly advancing toward her friend and the hanyou that held her still with unshaking arms, she held out the tiny boy that had only now begun to wakefully gaze around with marble like eyes, an almost carbon copy of Miroku's. "Kagome, I know you aren't feeling well, but I could help you hold him?"
Kagome's eyes lit up and despite the shakiness of her arms, she held them outstretched before her, inviting her friend to carefully offer her the baby, holding on one side as Inuyasha instinctively wrapped his arm around to cradle the other. Kagome held her arms up and wrapped them around the baby boy, looking down at the miniature nose that twitched, the golden smile accompanied by a gurgle of happy expression.
"It's so good to meet you, Hisui." Kagome greeted, enraptured by the tiny version of her two best friends, and completely oblivious to what held Inuyasha in his own bewitched silence; gazing down at the site of Kagome holding an infant, he felt his cheeks heat up and his heart constrict.
He continued gazing right past Hisui to drink in the sight, wishing somewhere in the bottom of his heart and the back of his mind, not loud enough for him to understand but just the sort of present to tug at him relentlessly, as if to remind him somehow that there was something more he wanted.
A/N: Good morning all! Thank you for waiting (I am always this lame, yes) for the latest chapter. I'm finally caught up to myself after an extremely busy couple of weeks; hope you enjoy this, let me know what you think! And if you are on Tumblr, voting begins tomorrow for FeudalConnection 3rd Term Inuyasha Fandom Awards and my story Plight or Pledge (complete) is nominated! I'd love if you felt compelled to throw a vote my way, for the first fic I've finished in years; weekly updates on this story will continue, and new reads will be up shortly! Thank you everyone for continuing to ride this InuKag obsession train with me.