Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you all have an amazing day and get to celebrate it with a friend, a partner or even a pet! Coming out with chapters might be a little more slow from now on, my work load this time is...a lot, so I'm honestly really tired most of the time. Anyways no more cliff hangers...for now.

Kouga exhaled, raking his fingers through his hair fighting the urge to pull on it. The talk with Hiina and Ezume did not go well, so he left to go outside to cool down and organize his thoughts before he yelled at either one of them or ended up punching Ezume. It was proving to be difficult to calm himself. He was angry and worried, angry that this had been brought up and worried about her, he had just left. He had to talk to Kagome, but he wasn't sure if she wanted to talk to him, maybe ever and the thought of it made him feel sick to his stomach. What if she decided that she was done with this? He couldn't blame her if she decided this was all too much and decided to walk away, but his yokai was not happy about it.

A twig snapped, drawing him out of his worries only briefly when he saw Ginta approaching him cautiously and worry raced through him again. Was he her messenger? Jealousy arose as he neared, he smelled like her, like he had hugged her and he fought back a growl from his yokai.

He hugged her.

He's a friend to her, he's allowed to comfort her.

You were once a friend.

His fist tightened, the thoughts did little to ease his foul mood and he fought back a snarl.

"Kouga?" Even as one of his best friends, he still had to be careful around him especially since he could practically see Kouga's pissed off energy radiating off of him. It had only gotten worse since he had left with Hiina.

"What is it Ginta?"

"Just wanted to see how you're doing, that's all." his shoulder slumped with relief, so she hadn't sent a messenger.

Ginta was met with silence, and he was sure he was going to be dismissed or ignored, but Kouga spoke, surprisingly quietly.

"How is she doing?"

Ginta frowned, "what do you think?"

Kouga nodded dejectedly, "yea I figured. I need to talk to her anyways."

He got up from the boulder and took a look at the sky, even the moon had seemed to shy away from all this commotion.

He was outside of ayame's room, unsure if he should knock or just barge in, it was very late and everyone had gone to bed. Everyone that was except for Kagome and Ayame, he only knew that from the quiet chatter that he was trying to eavesdrop on but all he heard was mumbled garble and he frowned, his attempt to decipher their conversation was fruitless and he knew he was stalling. He was at a crossroads with himself, on the one hand he wanted her to rest which he knew she wasn't doing or going to do, and on the other he desperately needed to see her. If his yokai had his way he would have just barreled in and demanded to speak to her, but he was at times, a rational person, and he knew that it would make the situation much worse.

But what if she doesn't want to see me?

He let out a frustrated exhale running his hand through his ponytail, mentally preparing himself for the conversation he was about to have with her, or maybe not have. Ever since he had left he could sense her mood shift every so often, ranging from sadness and anxiety to flashes of…anger? He wasn't quite sure what was waiting for him on the other end, or if he would even have a girlfriend when this mess was through, but he had to at least try to see her. In fact he wouldn't be surprised if she told him to fuck off right then and there, but he needed to make an attempt.

He knocked, "Kagome? Are you in there?" The whispers in the room immediately quieted, and her stress picked up instantly, rippling to him in huge waves and he winced, stepping back as if they were pushing him away.

That's not a good sign.

"Do you want me to tell him to leave? Or that you're not here?" He heard Ayame whisper loudly. If it weren't for the situation, he probably would have laughed. He could smell kagome wherever she was. Not only that, he could feel her emotions like they were his own, and right now they were making him feel downright uncomfortable.

He didn't hear a response and he worried that she would tell him to go away herself. Before he could knock again, she stepped out of the room and he felt like he had been punched right in the gut. He felt like the worst person alive at that moment and he swallowed thickly at the sight in front of him.

"Hey." she greeted, mustering a weak smile, but he couldn't ignore the red rimmed eyes and his heart sunk even further, knowing that he was the cause of all of this. Ayame stepped out of the room and glared at him about to give him a piece of her mind, when her eyes followed someone behind him. Ezume stepped out with his head bowed down and Ayame pointed at her room, a silent command but he stepped in without protest, but not before giving Kouga a message with eyes of pity.

Good luck.

"Can we talk in private?" He was not about to listen to a couple fight; correction he was not about to listen to Ayame go off on Ezume, it had happened a few times to him and it had not been a great experience. He was also sure as hell Ezume and Ayame didn't want to hear whatever he and Kagome were going to discuss.

Kagome gulped, her throat felt dry all of a sudden like she had swallowed chalk but all she could do was give him a meek nod.

"Sure that's fine."

It was in fact not fine, the fact was she wanted to bolt and not talk to him. In fact she didn't want to know how he felt about meeting his child, the child that looked exactly like him and it made her feel even more distressed. And she was angry. He had left her! After that announcement he had grabbed Hiina and left, how could she not be furious. But she had little choice, she had to face things like an adult now. Sooner or later he had to rip off the bandaid and her heart already stung. Like everyone had said, Kouga wouldn't want to risk a war, he would be stupid to.

"Can we go to my room?"

A request he had always wanted to make under the right conditions,and a request that would have made her happy eventually, but now it felt uncomfortable for both of them. He had wanted her in his room for a long time, but he never imagined it would be under these circumstances. Unfortunately all of the other rooms were taken by the visiting tribe and he didn't want to invade her space, not after she had made it her home.

She nodded and they walked silently to his room side by side. She walked in standing next to the opening, hesitant of where to go and ready to bolt. The scent of pine once comforting did little to ease her anxiety. She studied his room, looking for a place to sit and was surprised by how neat it was, with sparse decorations here and there, some armour and some weapons, but still no seats and she couldn't help but smile lightly, it definitely looked like a man's room.

Why do men sleep like they're in a prison? Even with Inuyasha, once they had moved in together he had laid a mat on the floor and called it their bed and seats, until she had forced him to go find something else for their home.

A few kitanas caught her eye and she admired them.

How did he get those on the cave wall? She squinted trying to figure out how he had hung them up when he walked back to her.

"Here." He said, handing her a cup and she drank it slowly, feeling the water slowly take away the chalk feeling.

Stop stalling, just say it.

"So is there a child?"

He nodded slowly.

"You have a daughter."

Kagome sucked in her breath.

A daughter. Kouga had a daughter.

"There is a daughter, but she's…not mine."

She felt bile rise up in her throat, he was denying his child? She didn't think he was that kind of person.

"You're denying your child. How could you do that to her?" Even if he had to marry Hiina, the child did nothing wrong and deserved her father.

He shook his head, "She's not mine at all."

"But I saw her! Not up close, but-"

"My yokai would have immediately recognized her, but it didn't. She's not…mine…"

Relief flooded her.

"So you don't have a-a child?"

Again he shook his head, "We're having the ceremony tomorrow either way, the shaman is going to test our blood tomorrow. I don't think Hiina's telling the truth."

He was certain she wasn't his, but a test had to be done to officially recognize it, then-then the mess could get sorted out. But it worried him, how would he deal with rejecting Hiina's proposal without potentially causing bloodshed? He studied kagome as fidgeted with her cup, how could he ever leave her?

I won't.

Kagome didn't sleep at all in the night, morning couldn't come soon enough. She lay awake all night with different scenarios running through her head, if the child was his he would have to marry her, if the child wasn't his he would still have to marry Hiina. Each scene weighing her heart further and further down. She angrily wiped the tears that had sprung up for what felt like the millionth time, wishing the thoughts would go away.

That night she had nightmares of Kouga leaving her.

Kouga could tell she was crying and the worst thing was he couldn't go over and comfort her. After all he was the cause of it, he was the reason she was crying, he was the reason that he couldn't go and soothe her. He knew she wasn't entirely sure about the child's paternity and it hurt. They didn't say much after the talk. When he walked her back to her room he leaned down to kiss her forehead but she had gently pulled back, and wished him a goodnight. Her rejection had stung, like she had slapped him, but he couldn't blame her for feeling that way.

He tossed and turned all night, having nightmares of Kagome leaving him and of him marrying Hiina.

The Shaman gently grabbed the child's hand and poked her fingertips with a small blade, squeezing her fingers to let the blood drops form faster. She held Mei's hand over the bowl and let the droplets fall in, making tiny red ripples across the odd concoction.

"Kouga." The woman beckoned him forward and he held out his hand, and she gave it a quick strike with a different knife, blood quickly seeped through his new wound, and he held his hand out over the bowl letting the bloodlets fall in.

"If it turns, that's his pup." she murmured to the quiet room, only Ayame, Ezume, Hiina and Kagome were allowed in, everyone else was barred from entering, but it didn't stop them from speaking about it from outside.

She mixed the bowl with a stick and they waited.

"Why did you lie?" Kouga's voice was eerily calm, but fury was seeping through his pores. She had lied about the whole thing, the whole fucking thing. And what was worse, she didn't seem surprised or argue it.

Hiina said nothing, she refused to even look at him and he wanted to scoff, now she was choosing to stay silent?

"Why. Did. You. Lie." he repeated and finally she showed some sort of emotion when she started to tremble.

"Answer me." he raised his voice, his patience had finally run out and even Kagome flinched. She had never heard him raise his voice to this level, not even with Inuyasha and it startled her.

"Because…" Hiina whimpered.

"Because why!" he was shouting at this point, his patience was gone and his composer had finally cracked, anger fully laced through his voice.

Hiina shook her head and looked down at the ground.

"You mean you don't know who the father is?"

She shook her head again and he had enough of her silence, walking over to her and glared down and she retreated, slinking her head down further.

"Then why did you lie? Is it because you don't know who her father is or because-"

"Because her father is dead! He's been gone," she finally admitted, not able to keep her tears drops in, fat droplets fell to the ground immediately absorbed into the ground , "he died and my father thought it would be best to…best to make you think…" she didn't finish, struggling to get the words out and Kagome felt bad enough to give her a cloth. She gave kagome a wobbly smile and dried her tears and nose. After a minute she calmed herself down and continued.

"My father thought it would be a good idea to make you think she's yours and you could marry me…I didn't want this…" she said softly, "I didn't want any of this, a marriage…but I wasn't entirely against it either. I know you'd be a great dad to her, but…but you're happy dating a human miko…and Mei knows about her dad…" she frowned and turned to look at Kagome.

"I'm sorry for this whole mess."

Kagome just nodded at her, she understood Hiina just wanted the best for her daughter, but the best happened to be Kouga and she had felt…jealous. On top of that, her headache had gotten worse and her eyes were still puffy from crying all night. She was sure that she looked like a hot mess and all she wanted was a good nap after this. The only reason she was here was because Kouga had asked her to stay.

"For the record, I still think it's weird that you're dating a human, even worse a miko, but" she shrugged, "I can't say too much about it."

"So this was all to get us married." he scoffed, choosing to ignore her comment.

She nodded, "yea, but…that's not going to happen. He said I had to try to get us to get married, and I doubt he'll actually go to war over it."

"So the promise of war?" Kagome was confused.

"-was all an act, he wouldn't do it. He just thought to kill two birds with one stone, find a dad for Mei and unite our tribes. I guess…he thought you would just accept her and not want to risk one."

Kouga pinched the bridge of his nose, "we'll talk more later, right now. I" he looked over at Kagome.

Hiina didn't miss a beat, "understood."

Silence fell between them and neither quite knew how to start the conversation.

Kouga cleared his throat, "so…"

"So…"

They both looked at each other and laughed awkwardly, followed by "you firsts" from each other.

"well-I," he paused, shit I should have thought about what I was going to say, "I…well are you okay? How are you doing?"

She pursed her lips, "well…I mean I've definitely been on an emotional roller coaster so far from thinking my boyfriend might have a child and might have to get married to being relieved that he doesn't. I- it's a lot to take in.."

What is a rollercoaster?

"Do you..still want to be," he bit his tongue, he had to give her an out if she wanted to "do you still want to be…together?" he regretted it as soon as he said it.

"Well I mean do you still want to?" and he felt his heart take a plunge off a cliff.

"I would…like to still be…but if you," he cleared his throat again, "if you don't want to, I understand. This has all been a lot to take and i'm sorry for making you go through this I-"

"I still want to be your girlfriend Kouga. This was just one of those bumps in the road…" more like a speed bump on the highway but we'll work through it.

He stepped forward in her direction and stopped himself, "are you sure?"

She frowned and his worry spiked again, "yes I'm sure, I just thought that-" her lip trembled, and he opened his arms.

"Come here."

She sighed against his chest wrapping her arms around him, and he stroked her hair as she tried not to sniffle against him.

"I thought you…were going to…leave me." she whispered and tears finally streamed from her face onto his armour, soaking through the cloth.

"Hey look at me," he tilted her chin, "I wouldn't leave. I'd find a way for us, I lo-like you too much to leave." he gently wiped away her tears with his thumbs and pressed a kiss to her forehead and she leaned into his touch.

"My brave girl." he kissed her hair, "Let's get you to bed, I know you're tired."

"No I'm not, I'm okay, I promise, besides you still have to entertain the others don't you? They leave tomorrow."

He kissed her head again, "you're too good for me." he mumbled against her hair, and she smiled shyly against him.

"I know, I'm the best."

You are