InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ As Fate Would Have It ❯ Chapter 20

Chapter 20

 

Inuyasha stared at the hut where Kagura had entered a few moments before. The sound of giggling and female laughter reached his ears, making them twitch. He scowled from his perch in a nearby tree.

 

“What ails you, Inuyasha?” Miroku called up to his friend. The inu looked down at the monk, who was carrying a sleeping Minako in his arms.

 

“They're up to something.”

 

Miroku raised an eyebrow. “What makes you think that?”

 

The hanyou dropped down from his branch and landed on the soft grass next to Miroku without a sound. “The laughter. Three females together with giggling like that means trouble.”

 

Miroku shook his head. “Typical of you to be paranoid about three lovely women enjoying themselves.”

 

Inuyasha snorted. “Marriage ain't changed you at all. You're still a lech.”

 

“And you are still dense.”

 

“Accurate as always, monk. Too bad my baka brother isn't as intelligent as you seem to be.”

 

Miroku and Inuyasha's heads swiveled to stare at the Inu no Taishou, Sesshoumaru, who walked blithely up to the young men without so much as an eye blink marring his perfectly frozen mask of indifference.

 

As he stopped next to the two men Inuyasha glared up at him. “And who's to say you're soooo much smarter than me?” he snarled at his older brother.

 

Sesshoumaru actually rolled his eyes. “See what I mean? Completely useless.”

 

Now the hanyou was growling, his hand resting on Tetsusaiga's hilt. “Say that again, bastard.”

 

Instead of rising to the bait, Sesshoumaru simply tossed an object to the disgruntled hanyou.

 

Reflexively he caught it. Gazing at the object in his hand, he blinked in surprise. “This is…!”

 

“The chunk of the Shikon no Tama that the Tiger youkai had. Indeed.”

 

Kagome came hurrying- waddling, rather- towards them, one hand on her belly as if to hold it where it was and the other holding her bow and quiver of arrows. Sango and Kagura were right behind her, weapons in hand. “Inuyasha! There's a huge shard…!”

 

The hanyou rolled his eyes. “No kidding, wench.” He held up the chunk that his half-brother had just tossed to him. “What do you think this is?”

 

The three women stared at him in shock. Kagura looked at Sesshoumaru. “I take it you won, my lord.”

 

His golden gaze regarded the wind youkai. “Was there ever any doubt?”

 

Kagura blushed and bowed deeply in apology. “G-gomen nasai, Lord Sesshoumaru.”

 

He turned around and began to walk away from the gathering. “It is of no consequence, Kagura. Come. It is time to depart.”

 

Bowing to her one-time enemies, Kagura bid them goodbye. She hurried after Sesshoumaru, who waited for her a few paces away. He startled everyone when he placed an arm around the wind sorceress and bore the two of them into the sky and out of sight.

 

Miroku whistled in amazement. “Never thought I'd see him do that.”

 

Kagome raised an eyebrow at him. “Which part? The kindness towards Kagura or the embrace as he flew away?”

 

The ex-monk chuckled. “Both.”

 

Inuyasha snorted as he handed the chunk of Shikon no Tama to Kagome. “Never mind that baka. He can do whatever the hell he wants as long as he stays away from me and my pups.”

 

“Our pups.” Kagome pulled out the large fragment of the Shikon no Tama that they had already collected and placed both pieces in her hands. She closed her eyes and concentrated, a pale pink glow emanating from her clasped hands.

 

When the glow had faded, she opened her hands to reveal… an almost complete Shikon no Tama.

 

There were still shards missing, it seemed.

 

Sango looked over her friend's shoulder at the jewel. “You don't think Kouga found some again, do you?”

 

At the mention of Minako's biological uncle's name, Inuyasha growled deep in his throat. “It would be just like that bastard to use them to try and take back Minako.”

 

Kagome gasped as she looked up at her mate. “You… you don't really think he might…?”

 

Miroku gazed at the little hanyou who was snoozing on his shoulder. “I don't want to say anything negative about Minako's kin, but in this case Kouga might just come back for her- if only for revenge against Inuyasha.”

 

Knuckles cracked. “I'll kill that mangy wolf this time if he tries anything!” he snarled.

 

Minako stirred from her nap on Miroku's shoulder. She sat up in Miroku's arms, rubbing her bright blue eyes that were still heavy from sleep. “Mama?”

 

Kagome stepped forward to take the little girl into her arms, wincing at the extra weight. “I'm right here, baby.”

 

Inuyasha was by her side in an instant, practically forcing his pregnant mate take a seat on the grass. “Dumb wench. Doesn't even realize when it's time to stop carrying Minako around and take care of herself.”

 

Kagome glared up at him. “I wouldn't be in this condition if it weren't for you, so don't order me around!”

 

“You're carrying my pups so you'll do what I say!”

 

“Just because they're hanyou doesn't make them only yours!”

 

Inuyasha sat back suddenly, his expression pained. Kagome blinked at him in concern. “Inuyasha? Are you okay?”

 

He snorted and turned around, crouched in his customary position facing away from her. Minako crawled into his lap and began tugging on the long white hair that hung over his shoulders. “Keh! Why wouldn't I be? You're the one who's breeding, not me.”

 

Miroku and Sango exchanged glances from their observation point a few yards away. The taijiya nodded and led her husband back towards the village, leaving the “happy” family some privacy.

 

“What do you think his problem is?” Sango asked Miroku on their way back.

 

The ex-monk shrugged, but looked concerned as well. “He was acting like normal- normal for Inuyasha, that is- until Kagome mentioned the fact that the babies aren't just his.”

 

Sango rolled Kagome's comment over and over in her mind, trying to find the trigger to Inuyasha's sudden change. …just because they're hanyou…

 

Looking up at her husband, Sango placed a hand on his arm in concern. “You don't think he's worried that Kagome won't accept hanyou children?”

 

Miroku shook his head. “Impossible. She loves Minako as if she were her own flesh and blood, and she's a hanyou. That can't be the reason.”

 

He stopped suddenly, his eyes wide open. Sango looked back at him, worried. “What? What did you think of?”

 

Shaking his head, he resumed walking. “Never mind. I doubt that's the case, anyway.”

 

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Tell me.”

 

He sighed. “I just wonder if maybe there's something wrong with the babies that Inuyasha knows about but won't tell Kagome.”

 

“Well, knowing Inuyasha, I doubt he'd get that upset about it and not tell her. It has to be something else.”

 

“Maybe you're right.”

 

Once inside their hut, Sango secured the mat that covered the door, then turned to her husband. That familiar glint was in her eye again.

 

“Miroku?”

 

He gulped. “Hai, Sango?”

 

She smiled, guaranteed to melt his heart. “All this talk of babies…”

 

A seductive chuckle escaped his throat as he stepped closer to her, his hand caressing her throat as he moved his body close. “Gives me some ideas… I agree…”

 

She giggled as he gently laid her down on their mat. “Half the fun is trying…” he murmured before he tipped his head down to capture her lips with his.

 

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Minako danced around Inuyasha, occasionally stalking the iterant bug. The silver-haired hanyou watched his adopted daughter with both a happy and a heavy heart.

 

I can't believe my pups, my own flesh and blood, are going to be… completely human. Will Minako be the only other hanyou in the family besides me? Will they… reject me… for my tainted blood because they don't have any?

 

He sighed dejectedly. Minako ran over and glomped him, knocking him right over onto the grass, much to Kagome's amusement. “Oi, pup! Careful! I don't want you getting hurt!”

 

“Baka papa wuv Mina?” Big blue eyes blinked down at him from her perch on his chest.

 

He chuckled. “Of course Papa loves Mina.”

 

She scrunched up her little face, twitching her small black ears. “Baka papa wuv Mama?”

 

Inuyasha looked over at his mate, who was watching him intently from her seat in the nearby grass. His gaze softened as locked with hers. “Hai, pup. Papa loves Mama…”

 

Kagome blushed not only at his words but at his loving gaze. One of the twins gave her a particularly hard thump and she winced.

 

Inuyasha was at her side instantly. “What's wrong?”

 

She rolled her eyes at him. “One of your children has it in his head that he's going to kick his way out of me.”

 

He raised an eyebrow at her. “What makes you think it's my son?”

 

Leaning forward, she stared him right in the eye. “Because if he's anything like you, he's going to be ornery and violent.”

 

“Like any girl of yours is going to be any better!”

 

“I'm a lot nicer than you are!”

 

“Keh!”

 

She leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss on the lips, which effectively shut him up. As he sat back and blushed while Minako tittered.

 

“I'm thinking it's time to go back home,” she murmured.

 

“To your own time?”

 

“Yeah. I heard that twins usually come early, and I don't want to be stuck here in case something happens.”

 

He shot to his feet, baring his teeth and growling. “What the hell do you mean `in case something happens'?!”

 

She blinked. “Well, I just think it would be better to be in my own time, where there are doctors and hospitals…”

 

The hanyou snorted and stuffed his hands inside the sleeves of his haori. Minako watched her father and took up a similar stance, settling for crossing her arms since she was wearing a short-sleeve sailor dress rather than a kimono or a haori.

 

“Fine. Let's go then.”

 

He reached over and gently helped her to her feet. “What about saying goodbye to Miroku and Sango?” she asked once she was standing.

 

Surprisingly, he blushed. “I… think they're busy right now. I don't think they'll be… available… to say goodbye any time soon.”

 

Kagome had to choke back a laugh. “Then we'll just say goodbye to Shippou and Kaede.” She began walking back to the village, Minako running around her legs in a circular motion. “After that, I need to get back. I'm dying for some Reece's Peanut Butter Cups!”

 

Inuyasha scratched an ear with a long claw. “Fleece peanut whats?”