The air feels weird.
Stilted and yet it also feels oppressive, as though something or someone is pushing down on her shoulders, trying to force her to its will.
Kagome frowns as she adjusts Koushi in his gray baby carrier. They need to get back home to the shrine ASAP. Something just is not sitting right with her. She enters the station and blinks. Why is everyone staring at her? Granted, she is a single mother and all, but normally everyone turns the other way and minds their business.
What gives?
Kagome glances down at her outfit. A simple pink maternity jacket with a flap so she can breastfeed Koushi without hassle, some black leggings with pockets on the sides, and a pair of white tennis shoes. Does she look like a bum or something? Is that it?
Nah, she might not be as dressed up as she normally is, but that can't be it. Maybe it's because she doesn't have a costume on?
"How did you get in here?" one person asks, but their words are slurred and the half-up fake wings attached to their costume aren't doing them any favors.
"Uh... I walked?" Kagome's brows furrow together. She places a hand over her son and gets the hell away from that person. They must be drunk. Why are they all just standing around? Is there something going on? "Come on, Koushi. It's way past your bedtime, anyway."
Koushi peers up at her but doesn't say anything. Not that she expects him to. He is only three months, after all. Still, for one so young, he seems to know more than he lets on.
It's the eyes. Has to be.
His eyes are blue like his father's and his hair is just as white. Kagome blows out a breath. As much as she loves her friends, they still think that she hooked up with InuYasha even though she has expressed that she has not seen InuYasha in years. To them, there's no way that she got pregnant by her one-night stand, and she must have gotten back together with her 'bad boy ex-boyfriend' one more time.
Doesn't help that she and Satoru never exchanged numbers. Or last names. It was just a one amazing, toe-curling night, and he was gone before her head hit the pillow.
Not that she resents him for it. He made it clear he only wanted release, and she only wanted to forget. What she didn't anticipate was for the condom to fail... or for her implant to fail, too.
Kagome gives herself a mental shake as she walks down the steps. She freezes. Blood stains the floor. There's a spot in the middle of the station that people seem to be avoiding. What the hell is going on?
Shit. This is bad. Really freaking bad.
The last thing she wants to do is fight while she has a baby on her. And it's not like she thought to bring her bow to movie night at Ayumi's for Halloween. The best she can manage is maybe a barrier around Koushi while she deals with whatever the hell is going on.
Koushi babbles, and then, in the blink of an eye, he's gone.
Kagome swallows. Terror seizes her like Mistress Centipede did all those years ago. Her nostrils flare. Her hands are clammy.
No. No. No.
This isn't happening. This cannot be happening!
She turns this way and that, spinning around until the colors on the walls and everyone's costumes blend together. Where is he? Her kid did not just vanish! Kids don't just go poof! They don't just teleport from view. He has to be around here somewhere.
"What the hell?" a voice says, and Kagome's blood turns to ice.
She runs, pushing the people out of her way. Why are they just standing there like zombies? It's creepy. There is something wrong with this whole station. Why aren't they moving?
"Koushi!" she calls, running into the area that the other civilians were avoiding. "Koushi! There you are... who the hell are you?" She glares at the patched-faced man next to the volcano head thing. Those things don't feel like demons. She still doesn't know what the hell they are, just that every time she's run into one of them, they have been nothing but trouble.
"Kagome?"
Huh?
"Satoru?" Her mouth drops open. Why is he here and why is he bound? Are those eyeballs?
Koushi babbles and reappears in front of Satoru, stretching his chubby hands out. Satoru blinks.
If Kagome wasn't so terrified, she might laugh at the absurdity of this.
"That child is floating," the patched-faced man says. "Is that normal?"
"I can see that," the other man replies. "And it looks just like you, Satoru."
"Kagome, get out of here," Satoru commands, his eyes flat. There's blood on his face, but it doesn't look like it belongs to him.
"Oh, no you don't," patched face says, extending his arm and blocking Kagome in. She rolls her eyes. This guy can't be serious.
Kagome clucks her tongue, walks over to Koushi, and grabs him from the air. If someone had told her months ago that she was going to get pregnant from a one-night stand and have a baby that can teleport at three months old, she would have laughed in their face. "You know better than to disappear like that," she chastises, though this is the first time he's ever teleported. She glances at Satoru from the corner of her eye. Maybe he sensed his dad was nearby? Koushi isn't a normal child and, judging from this situation, Satoru isn't normal either.
Though... she knew there was something different about Satoru when she met him. It's why she was drawn to him in the first place. His energy called to her, though she made sure to suppress hers.
"How about you and you stick around?" The patched face laughs, grinning like a maniac.
There are far too many of them for her to reasonably fend off with a baby strapped to her. And she knows nothing about them. She wets her lips. They went through the effort of binding Satoru. Maybe he can help? They wouldn't go through the effort of trapping Satoru if he wasn't a threat to them in some way.
Kagome wets her lips. Her hands are still clammy, but that's alright. She has Koushi back in his baby carrier, safe in her arms, and nothing is going to harm her son. She needs to play this smart. They don't seem wary of her.
They should be.
But she can work with this.
"I take it these aren't friends of yours," Kagome says conversationally, keeping her back to Satoru. She inches back, pretending to be afraid. She sniffs for good measure as she widens her eyes.
"Leave them out of this," Satoru commands. "Your beef is with me."
The guy in the monk attire chuckles. "Why would we do that? That kid has the six eyes, which should be impossible. I'm curious. How'd you hide him from the jujutsu world? Someone like him should have set the Jujutsu world in flames." He crosses his arms.
"Why is that impossible?" Patch Face asks.
"Because there can only be one six eyes user alive at a time, and yet we have two in front of us." His eyes narrow. "Is it you? Don't kill her. I want to examine her."
Jujutsu? Examine her? Absolutely not. This freak of a monk isn't laying a hand on her or her son, or her baby's daddy, for that matter. Kagome may not know how Satoru feels about this bombshell, but she doesn't resent him.
She inches back and turns her palm to Satoru. This better work. "I have no idea what any of that means, but if this is your idea of a fun Halloween, it sucks." She grits her teeth, throwing up a barrier while simultaneously working on freeing Satoru.
Koushi babbles again.
"You stay right here," she says sharply. He better not think about teleporting again.
There's shouting. The man in the monk attire turns and flees, while the others look on in confusion. The man with the pale skin and tattoo on his face backs away and heads after the monk, leaving only the patched face man and the volcano thing.
Maybe they are in shock?
"Cover his ears," Satoru says, behind her. He gives her a split second to cover Koushi's ears.
Oh.
Kagome blinks. Her breath catches. The volcano creature lies in a puddle of his purple blood and then turns to dust. So not human, obviously, but not a demon either. Maybe some kind of spirit?
Satoru is strong, but his attacks aren't doing much against the patched face one. It laughs at Satoru, even though its attacks don't seem to be connecting with Satoru.
She wets her suddenly dry lips. She needs to help him somehow. Those others got away, and they were definitely trouble. Especially that one with the stitches across his forehead. That monk is far too interested in Koushi and he wants to examine her? More like experiment on her or something wicked.
A bow and arrow would work best, but with Koushi on her, her options are limited. A spear maybe?
It's worth a shot.
She concentrates the energy in her palm and pulls one arm back, while placing a protective hand over Koushi as she readies her arm. Patched face isn't paying her any attention. Kagome sucks in a breath and throws the spear made of her energy with all of her strength.
"What the—Ah!" The spear hits Patched face in the chest and the purification spreads through its body, leaving nothing but a pile of dust.
Satoru stares at the ash pile and then looks over at her with blood on his face and his hands stained. There's a wild look in his eyes. His chest rises sharply.
"What were they?" she asks, wetting her lips again. Damn. Has he always been able to do that? She's half tempted to propose a second round, but this isn't the time and she doesn't know if those things have more allies outside of this station.
Seriously, get a grip! How can she be thinking about another round at a time like this? One round was enough. It was either some kind of freak accident or Satoru must have some kind of super sperm to get past two forms of contraceptive.
Satoru stiffens. His eyes glow as he stares at Koushi. "Curses. How long have you been able to see them?"
She lowers her barrier and shrugs. "Does it matter?" Kagome swallows. He isn't asking her how she got rid of that curse he couldn't take care of. He probably has other things on his mind like those others that ran off, leaving the other two to fend for themselves. He probably wants revenge for them tying him up.
"No." Satoru looks at her and then in the direction the others disappeared. His fingers clench and unclench. It's clear he's angry, but doesn't want to leave her behind.
Well... more likely he doesn't want to leave Koushi behind.
"Go. We can stay here and wait," she says this to Satoru but directs the last part to Koushi, who squirms. He's not normally a fussy baby, but this hasn't been a normal night either. From what she can tell, Satoru is human, so it's not like Koushi is some hybrid, but the way her baby is putting up a fight tonight suggests something else is going on. Is it the energy of those curses? Or is he reacting to his dad's energy?
"Put up another barrier and stay here. We have a lot to discuss," Satoru replies. He clasps his hands together, and he's gone before she can blink.
Well...at least she knows where Koushi got this teleportation from.
"That was your dad, bud," she tells Koushi, settling down with her back against the wall. She pulls Koushi out of the baby carrier. "Are you hungry?"
Koushi blinks up at her and his eyes glow just like Satoru's did. Kagome cuddles him to her chest, rocking him gently as she nurses him to sleep.
Something tells her it'll be a while until Satoru returns. Kagome yawns. Something in the pile of ash glints. She squints. What is that? Kagome gently unlatches Koushi and fixes her jacket. Whatever that it is, it could be trouble. She rises and walks over to the pile while cradling Koushi.
Huh? A finger? No, several fingers.
Why didn't these burn along with the curse?
Kagome picks up one and winces. The evil radiating from it reminds of how tainted some of the Shikon shards would get. She presses her lips together and purifies it.
Oh.
Crap.
That took more out of her than creating a spear. Kagome winces again. And that was just from purifying one finger.
"How did you do that?"
She snaps her head toward Satoru. When did he get back? "Um... perhaps we should talk somewhere more comfortable?" she gestures to Koushi, sleeping soundly for now.
Satoru's eyes harden before softening. "Come with me."
A/N: Can't believe I succumbed to peer pressure lolol. Hope you are having an awesome Monday. Stay safe. Stay warm. Drink some water. And Accidental will be updated later this week.