InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Royal Birth: Sequel to His Little Girl ❯ Hello Loki, goodbye Kagome ( Chapter 13 )

 

“I don't understand where is he?” Kagome said as she looked outside the castle through the window in the hall.

 

“I don't know,” her mate said and sighed sadly standing next to her.

 

“Why would he just run off? It doesn't make any sense.”

 

The three pups were asleep, as was nearly everyone else in the palace, except she and her mate. Sakura and her brother were asleep in their crib, Kagome unwilling to relinquish her hold on Inuyasha's pup held the sleeping pup cradled in her arms. It was very late, the early morning pre-dawn hours, but Kagome was unable to sleep. When Inuyasha had taken too long to return from outside Sesshoumaru and Toga had go out looking for him. Father and son were disappointed to not have found him, and even more so that they would have to wait for the furious blizzard that had erupted to go away before they could hunt him.

 

“Why didn't you use Tenseiga on Maika?” Kagome asked her voice barely more than a whisper as she turned her sad and exhausted grey blue eyes on her mate as she leaned against his chest.

 

“I couldn't…I've tried to use it before on a mother who dies in birth. The sword simply refuses to work, I've asked father about it. He said that a mother who dies in birth is not meant to return. That for her pup to grow her soul must live next to the pup's so it seems that sword understands that as well.”

 

“Where would he go?” she asked after a yawn and her mate lifted her up into his arms.

 

“In all honesty Kagome, you know him far better than I do. Where would he go? Where would he go for comfort? For safety?”

 

Her mate's words haunted her long into the night; even as she slept she could hear the words repeated. Her sleeping mind worked furiously to find an answer. Where would he go?

 

Sesshoumaru was shocked awake shortly after the sun had fully risen in the sky. It was Kagome's gasp and shout of his name that had woken him. In his exhausted state he had watched as she had taken the pups to feed them and simply thought that that was it. He flopped back to the bed in a dead sleep, Kagome unable to awaken him to tell him her discovery. Where was the one place Inuyasha would have gone? Where was the one place Kagome remembered him finding the most comfort or safety? The same place that he had taken her and her alone. His mother's grave.

 

 

 

Kagome returned to her and Sesshoumaru's room shortly after breakfast. She hadn't counted on the extra mouth to feed making her so tired. Deciding to take a short nap before the growing pups got done playing in the garden, she laid down. Covering herself with the blanket she decided to tell Sesshoumaru when she woke up. Toga had been so wonderful taking Rin and Shippou and playing with them so she could get her rest. As her eyes drifted shut she didn't think that she would ever be able to thank him enough.

 

It was over an hour later when Kagome woke and rose to feed the children. The pups, all three returned to sleep shortly after being fed and changed. Kagome smiled down upon them all, petting their heads and kissing their brows before leaving them to rest as she dressed and left the room.

 

Kagome's brow furrowed in a worried frown as she made her way down the hall. She needed to tell Sesshoumaru and Toga that she knew or at least had a good idea of where to find Inuyasha, but it was weird, she'd been walking the halls for a good ten minutes now and hadn't found either of them or seen Rin or Shippou either, and there were all these new youkai here. Who were they and why did they look at her like she was full of disease or something?

 

“Excuse me,” she said to one elder inuyoukai female. “Do you know where Sesshoumaru is?”

 

“Show some respect you filthy human!” the woman shouted at her and Kagome backed up a step, her eyes wide, what had she done?

 

“Do you know where he is?” Kagome asked once more.

 

“Who?” the woman asked snidely.

 

“Sesshoumaru!” Kagome said the woman's attitude throwing her.

 

There was no time to react, one moment Kagome was standing and the next she was on the floor. Intense pain radiated from the side of her face, from her cheek to her jaw and she could feel four long and somewhat deep cuts made by the woman's claws.

 

“Filthy human, show some respect!” the inuyoukai said and kicked Kagome into the wall, the girl grunting and panting with the impact. “You are nothing but dirt under our feet. You should feel thankful that he allows you to be here!”

 

“Wh-who are you?” Kagome asked as she grasped her side as she stood.

 

“I am Loki, that's Lady Loki to you vermin!” the youkai said and backhanded Kagome on her already hurt cheek sending the girl to the floor again. “Drop your eyes human, know your place!”

 

As Loki raised her hand to strike Kagome again, she quickly dropped her eyes to the floor. Kagome hurt enough as it was and she couldn't find her mate or Toga. This as the first time she could remember feeling unsafe in the castle she had come to call home. She watched as Loki and the other youkai females with her left and then stood on shaking legs and made her way painfully back to her room.

 

Kagome had never been on the receiving end of such hatred or bigotry before. Was this what Inuyasha had gone through in his younger years, what he still went through in some places. Her side ached terribly and it hurt to breathe, her face burned too. She didn't understand any of it. She was Sesshoumaru's mate, why would they treat her like that?

 

Kagome took a small bowl from the shelf near the pitcher that held water and the basin used to wash one's face in the morning. She poured water into the bowl and took a cloth. She made her way back to the bed and sat down gingerly on the bed. Setting the bowl on the table, she dipped the cloth in the water and rung out the excess before bringing the cloth to her face. Her moves were small and measured any wrong move and fire burned through her side.

 

A soft hiss escaped her as she brought the wet cloth to her face and wiped at the blood that had dripped out of the cuts before moving to clean the cuts themselves. Tears gathered in her eyes and fell onto her cheeks as her hand holding the now bright red cloth, dropped the cloth back into the water, turning it the clear liquid dark pink.

 

She covered her eyes with her hands as her hair fell forward to cover her face in a thick dark curtain. Her fingers grazed one of the cuts that was a bit longer than the others and she flinched hard, the pain intense as she began to quietly sob, her tears racking her body and making her injured side feel like it was on fire. She didn't understand any of this, what had she done?

 

Kagome heard a soft knock on the door and sniffled back her tears, wiping them from her face while being cautious of the cuts. She didn't answer the knock, didn't acknowledge it, hoping that whoever was out there would go away. She couldn't deal with anyone right now. She gave a breathy hopeless sob when she heard Toga call to her before opening the door and stepping in.

 

“Kagome what's wrong,” he asked as he stepped inside the room and closed the door. “I could smell your tears and your blood-” Toga stopped his own words when he saw the girl sitting hunched on the bed, her back to him and the bowl of dark pink water on the table next to her.

 

Toga made his way quickly around the bed and knelt in front of Kagome, the girl's head bowed and her hair covering her face. He was silent as he looked up at her in worry and moved her hair aside with his hands, being far more careful when he heard her hiss in pain. His eyes grew wide as he saw the nearly black bruise on her face and the four long deep cuts made by claws extending from just below her temple to her jaw.

 

His face was a mask of disbelief at the extent of her facial injuries and anger at whoever had done this to her, plus a great deal of concern for the girl that had become a daughter to him.

 

“What happened?” he asked as he moved to lift her to sit in his lap.

 

When Toga's hand brushed her injured side Kagome gasped and pulled back. His eyes grew wide and without a thought to her modesty he opened her kimono and looked at the dark angry bruise on her left side. His fingers gently probed the injury, checking for any broken ribs when Kagome pulled back and gasped harshly her hand moving to cover the bruise as she looked down, her eyes not meeting his.

 

“Baby girl what happened?” Toga asked as he looked at her cowering form. Kagome simply shook her head her eyes not meeting his as her hair fell back to curtain her face and he smelled her tears once again. “What happened?” he asked again as he tucked her hair behind her rounded ears and held her face carefully in his hands though her eyes still wouldn't meet his.

 

“I don't…I don't know,” the tears in her eyes began to fall in a rapid torrent as her eyes finally met his, begging him for an answer. “I don't know what I did. What did I do?”

 

Toga moved to sit on the bed and drew Kagome into his lap, her injured side against him as the injured side of her face faced away. He kissed her head as he brought the damp cloth to her face and carefully cleaned her cuts. Once the cuts were cleaned and the bleeding stopped he simply held her against him and rocked her gently in his arms.

 

“What did I do?” Kagome whimpered in his arms, begging him for an answer.

 

“No matter what you did, this never should have happened. Do you know who did this?” he asked and she nodded her head against his shoulder. “Who?”

 

“Someone named Loki.”

 

Toga's face darkened. He knew exactly who that botch was. And he meant bitch, female inuyoukai and bitch to the max. She was Sesshoumaru's grandmother, his first mate's mother and she was as conceited and self serving as they came. Her dislike of humans was widely known, he was enraged at what she had done to Kagome. He stood up and laid Kagome on the bed. Leaning over her, he swept the hair away from her injured face and kissed her forehead.

 

“Rest sweetheart.”

 

Toga left the room leaving Kagome to her wildly spinning thoughts and the angry hurtful and demeaning voice in her head that yelled at her. It demanded to know what she had done, what stupid thing she had done now. Kagome closed her eyes as tears seeped from beneath her lashes. She was nearing sleep when Hojou's face flashed through her mind along with the memory of his first attack.

 

Kagome shot up in the bed, whimpering as her side throbbed and burned painfully. A sob tore from her throat as she moved to sit against her headboard and brought her knees to her chest, her arms wrapping around them. She buried her face in her arms and knees as she cursed herself. She thought she had dealt with his attacks a long time ago, but in reality she had simply pushed it to the back of her mind and ignored the bursts of fear or panic whenever they would come up, shoving the flashes of the attacks to the back of her mind. That little saying you always heard, if you ignore it it'll go away, she thought it would work for this too. She guessed not.

 

Her head snapped to her door when she heard voices outside of it, one female and the other male. She didn't recognize the female's voice, but the male sounded familiar, she just couldn't place it. The door slid open gently and her eyes widened as her visitor walked in.

 

“Ginta,” she said softly and the wolf youkai gasped at the injuries on her face, plus the large bruise her could see on her side due to her open kimono.

 

Ginta closed the door and hurried to her side, sitting next to her on the bed.

 

“Sister Kagome what happened?” Ginta asked as he studied her face and side. Kagome flinched when his fingers touched her bruised flesh. “You're not safe here sister,” Ginta said as he gently closed her kimono and tied the obi loosely in a side knot. “Gather your pups.”

 

“What?” she asked as she gave a tired yawn.

 

“Gather your pups sister,” he repeated his eyes holding a seriousness she'd never seen before. “You're no longer safe here, and if you're not safe than neither are your pups.”

 

Ginta rose from the bed and helped her up as her hand held her aching side, her headache and the burning injury to her face growing more painful with each move. Ginta moved to the door and motioned for the servant that had led him there to come to him. The female squirrel youkai, one of several in service in the castle came to the wolf youkai and did as asked when he bid her to locate Kagome's growing pups and bring them back to the room.

 

Ginta moved to Kagome's side as he saw her having difficulty with bending over to remove the sleeping pups from their cradle. Seeing also the dilemma in how to carry them all, Ginta moved to the wardrobe and gathered two obis. Coming back to Kagome, he lifted growing twins to her and had her hold them against her chest as he secured them to her with one obi, and then lifted the newborn to be cradled between the older infants and secured her there with the second obi.

 

Kagome gave a shaky smile in thanks and Ginta smoothed her hair from her face and kissed her brow. He'd always been playful and teasing and the seriousness he bore now threw her for a loop. Ginta saw her uncertainty and drew Kagome into his arms being mindful of her injuries and the pups strapped to her chest.

 

“You're my sister, my pack's sister. I and my pack will protect you with our lives.”

 

A soft knock at the door followed by Rin and Shippou entering the room broken them from the embrace and Ginta moved to the two pups. When asked about Kagome's wolves, Rin moved to the door that separated her and Shippou's room from their parents and revealed the wolves inside. The two female wolves were standing at the door, obviously unable to find away out the room and disturbed at the scent of blood and tears on their mistress.

 

The female wolves moved quickly to stand on either side of Kagome, Mina jumping onto the bed so that she could see Kagome's face. The wolf turned to Ginta and barked and growled at him asking what had happened. Ginta spoke back to the wolf in the canine language telling her that she and Rena would be carrying Rin and Shippou on their backs as he took them back to Kouga's caves. Mina nodded and jumped to the floor moving to Rin's side and staying next to the girl as Rena stayed next to Shippou as Ginta led them out of the room and later out of the castle.

 

Once outside of the castle Ginta lifted Kagome into his arms and instructed Rin and Shippou to get onto the backs of the wolves, once done he took off in a run toward the south lands where their cave was, the wolves following behind. Back inside the castle the female squirrel youkai who had seen and spoken with Ginta made her way to Sesshoumaru's office where he was in conference with his grandmother and aunts on his mother's side.

 

Sesshoumaru noticed the servant and motioned for her to come to him.

 

“Sesshoumaru-sama,” the squirrel bowed low to him and rose to speak further. “A wolf youkai named Ginta has taken your mate and pups back to the Southern caves of Lord Kouga, prince of the wolf youkai tribe. He said to tell you that you may come for your mate and pups once it is safe for her to be here again.”

 

“What does he mean `safe'?” Sesshoumaru growled keeping his voice low.

 

“I'm not certain my lord, but Lady Kagome bore a wound on her face, it looked to be claw marks.”

 

Sesshoumaru nodded to the youkai servant and she left quietly. Sesshoumaru looked up to see his grandmother and aunts talking amongst themselves laughing and giggling. Sesshoumaru excused himself from their audience and made certain to have drinks and refreshments brought to them to keep them satisfied until he returned. Kami how he hated being around them. That group of females was the most bigoted and derogatory female inuyoukai he had ever met. It was a wonder that his mother had retained her free heart and mind and her pure hearted views among them.

 

Sesshoumaru mentally cleansed himself of them as he walked down the hall in search of his father or anyone who could answer the questions flooding his mind.

 

 

They were just exiting the Western Lands domain when Ginta heard Kagome yawn and saw her blinking rapidly as she tried to stay awake in his arms. He lifted her in his arms as he ran and nuzzled her face as he told her to sleep. As he resettled Kagome to a more comfortable hold, he saw that she had indeed fallen asleep in his arms. He looked to the pups that rode the wolves and found them to be enjoying the run and ride even though they didn't know for certain what was going on. He smiled at their childish innocence and knew that Kouga would not be pleased at all with the state that Kagome was in. He had sworn long ago, when he had found that Kagome had mated to Sesshoumaru that he would always protect her and that she would always be a sister to the pack. Ginta was glad that he was not the one who would be on the receiving end of Kouga's temper. No one harmed Kagome, no one.

 

 

 

“there you are my son,” Toga said as Sesshoumaru came nearer to him. “I've been looking for you, where have you been?” Toga asked and both youkai's noted the seriousness and darkness of the other's expression.

 

“Kept hostage by those bitches,” Sesshoumaru growled low, they were the only ones that could bring out his temper and foul language so easily.

 

“Yes, I've been meaning to speak to you about them,” Toga said as father and son sat in the library on the opposite side of the castle together. It was now that both father and son found themselves thankful for this second library that few knew of.

 

“Father,” Sesshoumaru began as he paced in front of a tall bookcase that ran the height of the wall. “Do you know of any injury that Kagome has obtained?”

 

“Obtained my ass,” his father growled low. “Loki hit her and cut her with her claws. It seems that she also kicked her for there was a large bruise on her side as well. Have you seen her?”

 

“No. Ginta apparently came for a visit. He is one of Kouga's sentries,” Sesshoumaru said at his father's confused frowns. “It seems that the wolf saw Kagome's injuries and has taken her and the pups, all five of them to Kouga's southern caves where the rest of the pack is. A servant told me that he said I could come for Kagome once it was safe for her to be here again.”

 

“From what Kouga said when he was here, his pack considers Kagome their sister. Ginta is doing the right thing in protecting her.”

 

Sesshoumaru's gaze snapped to his father, his attention and scrutiny unmatched. “You know who hurt her don't you?”

 

“Weren't you listening pup?” his father growled. “Your grandmother hurt her!”

 

 

 

“Well Ginta what did Sesshoumaru have to say?” Kouga asked as Ginta entered the cave, the prince's back turned to his comrade as he made certain that Ayame was resting comfortably, his mate sleeping soundly.

 

“Kouga,” Ginta said his voice far too serious for Kouga to be comfortable with.

 

“What the - Kagome,” Kouga said alarmed as he saw the woman in Ginta's arms and the pups strapped to her chest with the obis and the two wolves he had given her bearing Shippou and Rin on their backs.

 

“Sister Kagome is hurt,” Ginta said and Kouga motioned for him to lay her down near Ayame's sleeping form. “She and her pups were no longer safe so I brought them here.”

 

“You damn well better have brought them here,” Kouga said harshly as he and Ginta set about untying the infant pups from her chest. “This one's so tiny,” he said as he lifted the one day old pup from Kagome's body.

 

“She's Inuyasha's pup,” Kagome said softly and yawned as she woke. “She was born last night and then Inuyasha ran off. I'm really worried about him, Maika died in labor.”

 

“That would explain it,” Kouga said as he set the pups aside and moved to deal with Kagome's facial wound first that had reopened and was oozing blood.

 

“Explain what?” Kagome asked and then hissed softly as the cloth touched a particularly sensitive part.

 

Kouga looked at the rough rag and tossed it aside. “Screw doing this that way,” he said and lent over Kagome, licking her wounds closed.

 

Kagome blushed softly and Kouga was oddly touched to see that even with her mating and being a mother she had not lost the essence that was her.

 

“You said before that `that explains it'. Explains what?” Kagome asked her voice soft as Kouga opened her kimono to tend to the wound on her side.

 

“I was out patrolling this morning and found Inuyasha. He was covered deep in snow from the blizzard last night, looks like he made himself a nest in the ground like a wild dog would. He was half frozen when I pulled him out, I wouldn't have found him if I hadn't tripped over him. He hasn't spoken, hasn't eaten, he hasn't really even moved since I brought him here. It's like he's lost inside himself. As much as we fought, he's always been kind of like a brother to me. Wolves are different from other youkai in the aspect that young are young, hanyou or not. Had he been born of a wolf tribe he never would have been left to fend for himself, certainly not so young either. Pups, hanyou or not are treasured among wolves.”

 

Kagome leaned against Ginta as Kouga wrapped her ribs and then asked Kouga to hand her the newborn. Ginta went to move away and Kagome stopped him.

 

“It's alright, this is a natural thing. Besides, I can't sit up on my own too well and she needs to be fed. They all do.”

 

Ginta looked to Kouga and he nodded, Ginta staying where he was as Kagome gingerly opened the tie on her breast binder, her nursing bra having become uncomfortable since she began feeding the newborn every two hours, her breasts producing far more milk than she was used to. As Kagome brought Inuyasha's pup up to her breast to feed her, Kouga had Hokkaku tend to Rin and Shippou and made sure that they were given food and drink as well.

 

“Excuse me,” Rin said and tugged Kouga's furs.

 

“Yeah pup,” Kouga said as he knelt down to Rin, still amazed at the changes in her from human to hanyou.

 

“Can I play with the puppies?” she asked her face full of hopeful innocence.

 

“The puppies?” he asked and Rin pointed to the wolves that were in the cave. She had gotten over her fear of them thanks to Kagome's wolves and now loved to play with the furry beasts. “Sure,” Kouga laughed and turned to Hokkaku. “Keep her safe,” he said and the mo-hawked wolf youkai nodded to him.

 

Twenty minutes later Kouga looked over and chuckled softly. Rin and Shippou were sleeping peacefully in a mess of wolves, their tiny arms wrapped around the furry beasts. If those pups were anything like Kagome he knew that by the time they left those wolves would be spoiled with attention and love from the children. At first he was surprised that Rin could stand to be around them, remembering his own part in the darkness of her past, his own carelessness. But after seeing the child with Mina and then with the other wolves in his cave, he guessed that perhaps time, and Kagome, do heal all wounds.

 

As he turned back to Kagome he was presented with the newborn pup and asked to hold her as Kagome fed the other two and burped them in turn.

 

“How come she isn't clothed?” Kouga asked as he looked upon the pup in his arms, naked save her cloth diaper.

 

“She was born a few weeks early, everything I had from these two was too big for her,” Kagome said as she passed Sakura off to Kouga and fed her brother.

 

“I have some furs that could be made to fit her,” he offered as he looked down at Kagome's daughter than back at Inuyasha's.

 

“That would be wonderful Kouga thank you,” Kagome said and then suddenly began crying.

 

Kouga passed the pups onto the now awake Ayame and moved quickly to take Kagome in his arms as she continued to feed her son.

 

“What's wrong?” he asked worriedly as he held her close.

 

“I don't - I don't know. I don't know,” she said and rested her aching head against Kouga's shoulder.

 

“Poor thing,” he whispered softly. “Everything's just now hitting you isn't it?” he said and rocked her and her son as she fed them. “Once he's done eating I want you to eat something and then get some rest ok?” he said and she nodded tiredly against him.

 

A few minutes later her son was finished eating and had been burped, Ayame and one of the female wolf youkai's from her tribe taking care of the infants while Kagome ate a bit of food and laid down for a nap. Kouga kissed Kagome's brow and covered her with a heavy fur as he left her to sleep. She had asked to see Inuyasha when she woke and he thought that perhaps it would help the hanyou to see her as well. At least he hoped it would.