InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Blackout ❯ Recovery ( Chapter 15 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: King Baka 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Adventure / Angst | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 06.15.2014 | Pages: 6 | Words: 11.2K | Visits: 1.3K | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Adventure / Angst | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 06.15.2014 | Pages: 6 | Words: 11.2K | Visits: 1.3K | Status: Work In Progress
Disclaimer: I don’t own Inuyasha or any of the publicly known characters, plot, etc. I’m just renting them from Rumiko Takahashi, Viz, etc. I do own the plot of this story and any original characters I’ve created. I will make no money from this fic; I write for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of my readers.
Recovery
Kagome yawned and stretched, then flinched at the ache that action produced and crossed her arms over her chest in frustration. She spared a glance toward the entryway and saw bright sunlight streaming in through the shoji door. Another beautiful day, cooped up in this damn room. She was going to go insane if she had to spend another afternoon indoors. It was already the third day of her recuperation, though at times she felt like incarceration would have been a better description. To be fair, much of the first two days had been spent sleeping, probably on the order of sixteen to eighteen hours per every twenty-four. And even while awake, she hadn’t felt up to much more than brief conversation. Certainly nothing which would involve rising from her futon.
But today she felt slightly better, with an extra surge of energy in her muscles. The timing was perfect, since she was getting more than a little stir crazy. Her keeper wouldn’t like it, but she was going to get some fresh air. Describing Inuyasha in such a manner wouldn’t be fair to him, however, despite his tendency to be a bit overbearing. He had been a wonderful caretaker, for all three of them. He cooked their meals and even fed them if necessary, a task which Shippou also assisted with. Fortunately, some of the temple’s stores of food had been spared by the fire, so he didn’t have to leave them alone to hunt. But that still left the preparation of said meals, which were adequate if not extraordinary, given his lack of practice with cooking for humans. It helped that he kept things simple.
He’d also assisted them with fulfilling other bodily needs, including the preparation of baths for each them once a day. It took a lot of effort to fill a tub with warm water in this time period, and Kagome’s sore muscles greatly appreciated his efforts. He’d also been taking each of them to the temple’s lavatory several times a day. Fortunately, Kagome had never needed him to actually assist her with doing her business, though on the first day it had been a close thing. She had nearly passed out on the bathroom floor with her underwear around her ankles. That would have been a sight to behold. So no, trips to the lavatory were not pleasant. Nor was passing almost syrup-thick urine with a slight greenish tint to it, though at least that was visual evidence of the poison leaving her body. Whatever medicine that Shichinintai member had given them was working, albeit slowly. Kagome still hadn’t gotten Inuyasha to tell her the whole story of how they’d come to be resting alive at this temple, only bits and pieces. He hadn’t seemed to want to burden her with the knowledge until she was feeling better, and she’d been too tired to press the issue. Perhaps today she could get him to share with her. She wanted to know how much he’d had to give of himself in order to save them, so she could tell him how proud and grateful she was.
Inuyasha had at least taken care of himself as well, while caring for his invalid friends. When she’d woken up early in the afternoon on the first day of their recuperation, she found him topless but covered in bandages. He’d been wearing a strange set of hakama, maybe something a traveler had left in the temple at some point. His fire-rat robes had been washed and hung out to dry, their self-healing abilities mending all the cuts and holes. His white kosode was ruined, but he later managed to scrounge another robe with a similar style from some storeroom in the temple. So her concern that he would neglect his own health proved to be unfounded, though he probably only spent so much time taking care of himself because he wanted to be in top condition in case of another enemy attack. But whatever the reason, Kagome was pleased to see him recovering from their ordeal as well.
So, when Inuyasha yelled at her for leaving her futon, she would try to be nice to him. She would politely explain that she needed to get out of that room for a while. And if he was still adamant that she go back inside, there were other tactics she could use. She would try to avoid utilizing the ‘osuwari’ command if at all possible, but if he was being truly stubborn, sometimes that was the only way to deal with him.
After a deep breath, Kagome pulled back the covers and gingerly rose to her feet. She wobbled for a moment, nearly losing her balance and falling on top of Sango. Once the world stopped spinning, she moved to the opposite wall and used it for support as she made her way past her companions with baby steps. She paused only once, to glance at the taijiya whom she had nearly awoken so rudely. Sango was having the most difficult time recovering, and she spent more time sleeping than anyone. This was probably due to her small frame and the significant amount of physical activity she’d undergone in Mukotsu’s hut, which had accelerated the spread of the poison. She probably would have died first if not for the antidote, a thought which still made Kagome shudder.
Thus far, the two of them were still the only people who knew exactly what had transpired inside that hellhole. Kagome hadn’t told Inuyasha yet, though she knew she would. He deserved to know, and more than that, Sango deserved his gratitude. The taijiya’s body still bore the marks of her would-be rapist. Her face was gradually healing, the bruises shifting into a new amalgam of dismal colors each day. Every afternoon, Kagome had Inuyasha prepare an antibiotic salve which Kaede had shown her. Then after he put up a privacy screen, she rubbed it into Sango’s chest as the older girl tried to constrain herself to a few isolated hisses of discomfort. The effort left Kagome exhausted, but it was well worth it. Sango’s breasts were a patchwork of scabs and partially-mended cuts, but eventually they would heal with no permanent scarring. It also meant that Inuyasha would not have to perform the task, since he was the next logical candidate. The hanyou would surely do it without complaint, even before learning that the wounds had been inflicted as part of Sango’s attempt to save her and their baby. But it would be incredibly uncomfortable for both of them, and she was glad to spare them from that.
It was warm inside the hut, but still Kagome wore heavy flannel pajamas. The poison almost seemed to have aged her body sixty or seventy years, so that was the only way she could keep warm at night. But outside in the bright sunshine, the cooling breeze was such a relief that she simply indulged for a moment, standing on the temple grounds with her eyes closed and heaving a blissful sigh. She heard a thump, and opened her eyes to find Inuyasha standing before her, arms crossed over his chest and an irritated scowl adorning his features.
“What’re you doing out here, wench?”
Kagome took the relatively polite nature of his inquiry as a good sign. No swearing, and he wasn’t even yelling yet? Probably because of her condition, she supposed.
“I need some fresh air, Inuyasha.”
“What you need is rest, baka. Get your ass back in bed.”
Kagome grimaced. So much for being polite. “Please, Inuyasha,” she pleaded, frustrated that she was beginning to get a headache already. “I just want to spend a few hours outdoors. If you make me go back inside, I’ll go crazy!”
Inuyasha looked like he wanted to argue, but his gaze also softened. Perhaps he figured that continuing the quarrel would do her more harm than acquiescing to her request. It was probably true, she reflected; she would pass out on the ground before she gave in. And he knew it too.
“Fine!” he snapped. “But you ain’t walkin’ around.”
Without another word, he scooped her up and hopped up to the roof. Instead of cradling her in his arms, as he’d done the other night, he deposited her on the sloping wood and squatted next to her, eyeing her warily. Then he leapt down and returned moments later with the mat from her futon. Kagome grinned wryly, amused at how determined he was that she remain ‘in bed.’ At least this way he could count it as a partial victory. Not that she was complaining; she had gotten what she wanted and her backside had a nice soft surface to sit on. She thanked him for the trouble and turned her gaze to the surrounding area. It was beautiful, this part of Japan. From their high vantage point, the full breathtaking splendor of nature was on display.
For a good half hour she simply took it all in, loving every moment of fresh air in her lungs and sunlight on her skin. Then the breeze picked up again, chilling rather than cooling this time. A shiver passed through her, and a few seconds later she found Inuyasha’s haori draped over her shoulders. She pulled the garment close and turned to her hanyou.
“Thank you, Inuyasha.”
He grunted in response, but to Kagome’s surprise he didn’t seem annoyed. Perhaps because he’d seen that she wasn’t about to drop dead from being out of the hut. He hadn’t said anything since returning with her futon, but now his demeanor spoke of quiet contentment. And she knew that now was a good time for a long overdue conversation.
“Seriously, Inuyasha, thank you. You’ve been wonderful, taking care of us.”
He blushed and snorted to brush away the praise. “Keh. How many times have you taken care of me?”
“Hm. I’m just sorry I couldn’t care for your wounds this time.”
“Don’t worry about it. Shippou helped me with the bandages.”
Kagome made a mental note to thank Shippou for that. The kit had been an attentive caregiver as well, though what he could do was limited by his stature. She would make sure to let him know how much she appreciated it.
“You know, you never told me how you got to be in such rough shape. What happened after we passed out the other day?”
Inuyasha sighed, but began the tale without protest. Kagome didn’t interrupt, aside from the occasional involuntary gasp. She was especially amazed to learn that he’d transformed again, due to nearly being killed by Ginkotsu. Given the relative ease with which he’d dispatched Ginkotsu and Renkotsu at the temple, it was obvious that his near-death experience in the first battle had resulted from being saddled with unconscious friends to protect. To his credit, Inuyasha said nothing which would support this assumption, but she knew it was true. She was also impressed that he’d thought to go after Renkotsu to obtain an antidote. Inuyasha had truly shined under immense pressure, and she didn’t hesitate to let him know it.
“Keh,” he muttered in embarrassment. “Just doing what I had to.”
Kagome smiled and shook her head at his modesty. He could trash talk with the best of them in front of enemies, but with friends he was usually fairly humble. As was his comrade-in-arms, who also deserved to be lauded for her act of self-sacrifice. So she told Inuyasha of the terrible events inside Mukotsu’s hut, how the poison user had discovered their child, how Sango had distracted him as he was about to kill it, and how the two of them had barely managed to slay him instead. As expected, Inuyasha was awestruck.
“She did that for us?” he mumbled, understandably amazed. It was not a common occurrence to learn that someone was willing to endure suffering and death on your behalf, especially for a hanyou rejected by the vast majority of humans and youkai. But Inuyasha now had several such friends, and he knew that he would make the same level of sacrifice for each of them. Losing them would have been an even greater tragedy than he’d imagined.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” he muttered. “I could’ve gotten there faster, but—”
“But you couldn’t leave Miroku-sama behind,” Kagome finished for him. “Sango-chan and I would never want you to leave Miroku-sama in danger just to save us. You defeated Jakotsu and came as quickly as you could. That’s all we can ask.”
Inuyasha nodded, relieved that Kagome saw things the same way he did. A series of unfortunate events had nearly cost them their lives, but it was difficult to place blame. Of course, if they had died, Inuyasha would have found a way to blame himself. But since they were alive, it was easy to focus on helping them get well, rather than agonizing over how they had come so close to death in the first place.
Silence settled over the pair once more, as Kagome returned her attention to the gorgeous surrounding countryside. Eventually her eyelids grew heavy, and she lay down for a nap, curling onto her side and using Inuyasha’s haori as a blanket.
“You should go back inside, wench,” the hanyou told her.
“Don’t wanna,” she replied drowsily. She could practically hear his eyes rolling, but he made no further comment other than some grumbling under his breath. Warmed by his haori and the gentle caress of sunlight on her face, and watched over by the man she loved, Kagome had no trouble drifting off to slumber.
“Hey, Kagome-chan.”
Sango’s greeting startled her, and she found the taijiya gazing at her with a certain degree of irritation. Behind her, Miroku lay on his back, snoring softly.
“Hi, Sango-chan. What’s wrong?”
“You didn’t have to tell him what happened, Kagome-chan.”
Kagome quickly realized what her friend was upset about. Inuyasha must have said something to Sango last night or this morning, which probably left her feeling quite embarrassed. But that wasn’t a terrible thing, as far as Kagome was concerned.
“I had to, Sango-chan. He is the father of my baby.”
Sango sighed, but conceded the point. “Fine. Just don’t tell…anyone else.”
Kagome nodded to indicate that she wouldn’t. She had taken the decision out of Sango’s hands with regards to Inuyasha, because the hanyou had sired the child she had saved. But whether Miroku ever found out what happened inside Mukotsu’s hut should be Sango’s decision alone. Kagome supposed she could understand why the taijiya was uncomfortable with the prospect, even though the knowledge would only increase the monk’s opinion of her. But it wasn’t her call, and Miroku would never hear a word about it from her.
Sango still seemed slightly annoyed, and not really interested in further conversation, so Kagome left her to her brooding. She found Inuyasha more than willing to take her up to the roof again. And as she sat there gazing at him, her heart somewhat aflutter, she had to wonder if he’d been looking forward to this. A suspicion supported by the jealous glare he shot Shippou’s way when the kit joined them, snuggling into her lap. But she was not about to turn Shippou away; the little fox needed her too. It was enough to know that Inuyasha enjoyed their quiet alone time as much as she did.
But it was not to be. All too soon, Kagome felt a familiar sensation brushing against her consciousness. She looked to Inuyasha to gauge his reaction, and seeing that he was more annoyed than alarmed, she was able to discern who the owner of the approaching jewel shards was.
So the appearance of the whirlwind on the shrine grounds came as no surprise, though Kagome did get quite a shock when the winds subsided and Kouga materialized, standing twenty meters away and gazing up at them. For slung across the wolf’s back was her enormous yellow bag, and in his hand he carried Miroku’s staff. Inuyasha had hidden those items near the battlefield, but evidently not well enough to conceal them from a sensitive nose. As to why Kouga had them, and why he was even here at all, Kagome was quickly developing a theory.
Not that Inuyasha particularly cared about the answer to either question. He had already risen to his feet and placed his hand on Tetsusaiga’s hilt, clearly not in the mood to mess around.
“What the hell are you doing here, wolf? Drop that shit and beat it!”
“I need to talk to Kagome,” came Kouga’s reply, soft but firm. “Alone.”
“The hell you do! Get the fuck out of here before I skin you alive!”
“Inuyasha, wait a minute,” Kagome told him.
The hanyou rounded on her. “Oh, no, wench. Do not tell me to let you go with that bastard!”
“I think he just wants some closure, Inuyasha,” she said quietly, so Kouga wouldn’t overhear. The wolf prince’s demeanor was one of humility, his youkai aura subdued. Kagome could not bring herself to fear him, or to distrust his intentions. A confidence Inuyasha did not seem to share.
“I’ll give him some fucking closure,” the hanyou snarled, cracking his knuckles.
“Inuyasha…”
“Dammit, wench! What if he wants to take you away from me? What if he pulls some shit, like ‘if I can’t have her, no one will?’”
“Kouga-kun isn’t like that,” she assured him confidently. But she did understand Inuyasha’s concerns, given how violent their last encounter had been. Kouga’s murderous intent had been directed at the hanyou, however, and only before he was unequivocally told that Inuyasha was not a rapist. After that, he had behaved reasonably enough, for someone who was obviously hurting.
“And if he does try something,” Kagome stated, cutting off Inuyasha’s protest. She called upon her miko energy, allowing the pure light to glow around her for a moment, as Inuyasha took an involuntary step back with widened eyes.
“Just remember that I’m still a miko,” she finished, her tone indicating that she would not hesitate to use her power if she was wrong about Kouga’s intentions. And she wouldn’t; more than just her own life was at stake here. But she would not be lobbying to allow the wolf prince the private conversation he desired if she was not absolutely certain that he meant her—and the baby—no harm. The display of spiritual energy was really just to make Inuyasha feel better.
It worked, to a degree. The hanyou clearly didn’t like the idea, but he knew he couldn’t stop her either. Because this was one of those times when she would use the ‘osuwari’ command to get her way, if necessary. Inuyasha needed to show that he respected her enough to trust her judgment on this. He gazed at her, conflicting emotions warring in his golden pools. He wanted to trust her, knew how intelligent she was, but couldn’t completely banish his fears.
Swearing under his breath, the hanyou helped her down from the roof and walked with her until they stood a few meters before the wolf prince. Seeing Kouga up close, Kagome was more confident than ever that her assessment of him was correct.
“Stay in sight,” Inuyasha ordered, voice hard and threatening. “And if you lay one finger on her, I’m going to shred you.”
Kouga nodded his agreement to the terms, and walked off in the opposite direction, leaving Kagome to follow. She did, until he turned and sat on the ground facing her. She glanced over her shoulder to find Inuyasha anxiously keeping his distance, ready to race in if Kouga so much as looked at her the wrong way. But if they spoke quietly, the words would not reach the hanyou’s ears. Kagome smiled, grateful that Inuyasha trusted her, even if he didn’t trust Kouga. She sat down to face the wolf prince, who stared longingly at her for a few moments before looking away.
“Thanks for coming,” he said quietly.
“No problem. And thank you for returning our things. How did you find us?”
“I was looking for you. A couple days after…our last meeting, I decided that I needed to talk to you again. I stumbled across that battlefield, the one with the lingering stench of poison. There was a lot of Inuyasha’s blood on the ground, and when I found your bag…”
“You tracked us all the way here because you were worried,” Kagome finished, smiling warmly. She could tell that Kouga had put a lot of effort into locating them, following faded scent trails, all the while worrying that he might never see her again. This of course begged the question, of why he wanted to see her so badly at all.
“What did you want to talk about, Kouga-kun?”
“I, uh…” He swallowed, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Kagome waited patiently for him to find his words.
“Was it me?” he asked finally. “Was it something I did or said?”
Kagome’s smile turned sad, but she was grateful for this opportunity to explain herself fully to her one-way love interest, to let him down easy.
“No, Kouga-kun, it wasn’t you. You were always nice to me. You made me feel wanted, even when Inuyasha hurt my feelings. That’s probably why I let you keep calling me ‘your woman,’ even after I realized that I was in love with him. But…I can’t control who I love. I’m sorry.”
Kouga nodded, not appearing nearly as heartbroken as Kagome feared. Perhaps he was beginning to understand that his feelings for her were not as strong as he’d claimed them to be. After all, how could he truly love someone he barely knew? But she still hated to see him so despondent, so she tried to lighten the mood.
“Some other girl is going to be very lucky to have you, Kouga-kun.”
He snorted, but some of his old playfulness returned. “She’d have to be pretty special to compete with you, Kagome. That baka hanyou doesn’t know how lucky he is. He doesn’t even realize you’re in love with him, does he?”
“No, and please promise me you won’t tell him.”
“And let him off easy? Not a chance! You just keep him sweating until he pulls his head out of his ass, okay?”
Kagome laughed. “Deal.”
Ecstatic to have her friend back, she rose to her knees, crawled over to Kouga and hugged him. The heartfelt embrace the wolf prince gave her in return spoke of respect and affection.
“Oi! I told you not to touch her!” Inuyasha yelled, and Kagome could hear his rapidly approaching footsteps.
“Aw, shut up, you windbag!” Kouga shouted back, rising to his feet and pulling her up with him. “Don’t get all jealous over a little hug.”
“Wh—I’m not fucking jealous!” Inuyasha thundered, the sheer ferocity of his tone belying his statement. “I just don’t want her smelling all nasty. Bad enough I’m gonna have to wash her bag about fifty times to get the stench out.”
“Oh yeah? Well maybe you should worry less about how she smells and more about taking care of her!”
Inuyasha could only gape at him in shock. Evidently, now that his friendship with Kagome had been revived, Kouga felt comfortable with criticizing the hanyou for his obvious failure.
“Kagome’s normally warm skin is cool to the touch. And her lips, which usually have the color of cherry blossoms, are white as a fish’s belly. You left her in such a bad situation that she almost died! How could you be so careless?!”
“You bastard…” Inuyasha growled through gritted teeth, looking like he wanted to beat Kouga into a bloody pulp.
“It wasn’t Inuyasha’s fault, Kouga-kun,” Kagome interjected. Both males turned surprised gazes to her, but Inuyasha’s amber orbs also reflected something far deeper. Her heartbeat quickened, but she licked her suddenly dry lips and completed her statement.
“Sometimes Inuyasha…isn’t as careful as he could be. But this time it really wasn’t his fault. And besides, he went to incredible lengths to save us.”
Kouga studied her for a moment, gauging the truth of her words. Then he snorted and turned back to Inuyasha.
“Well, Inu-kurro, I guess you’re off the hook. But the next time you let Kagome get into that much danger, I’m gonna kick your ass!”
“Bring it, you mangy fleabag. Any time, any place!”
Kagome groaned and put her head in her hands. This childish bickering was going to give her a migraine pretty soon. Fortunately, this proved to be just Kouga’s ritual of pissing Inuyasha off before leaving.
“See you around, Kagome. And remember, keep him sweating!”
When Kouga was gone, Inuyasha glared at her as if to ask what the hell the wolf had meant by that. Kagome ignored him and walked back to the hut, her shoulders slumped with only partially feigned fatigue and hoping it would encourage Inuyasha to leave her alone. Luckily for both of them, he did; she would ‘osuwari’ him a hundred times before she enlightened him as to the meaning of Kouga’s little comment. She was annoyed with the wolf prince for putting her in this situation, but she had also seen past his playful exterior. He was still hurting, and probably would be for some time. Still, it warmed her heart to see him returning to his old self.
Inuyasha still seemed a little grumpy by the time Kagome woke from her afternoon nap a few hours later. He was focused on preparing the fire and cooking the evening meal, so she left him to it. Since Kouga had so graciously returned her bag, she determined to take advantage of the remaining light. Within ten minutes she’d flung her math book away in frustration, her head throbbing with every mysterious variable and unsolvable equation. But she refused to simply sit there twiddling her thumbs; perhaps some casual reading would be more agreeable? She rummaged through her bag and found the pregnancy book her mother had purchased for her.
This was much easier, she was pleased to discover. On the road, she tried to spend what little downtime she had studying. Here she had nothing but downtime, and since she wasn’t up to studying, she was grateful for her mother’s thoughtfulness. She intended to eventually read the book cover to cover, but today she just skimmed, looking at pictures and reading parts which seemed especially interesting. In the middle of the book was a long spread of images depicting the development of the fetus at various stages of pregnancy. It was fascinating to her, to see how her baby would grow and gradually take human form over the coming months.
“See something interesting, wench?”
Inuyasha’s gruff question startled her, and she realized that she had been totally engrossed. But his curiosity seemed genuine, so she decided to share.
“See for yourself,” she told him, closing the book and tossing it over. “Page one-eighty, I think it was.”
Briefly she wondered if Inuyasha could read page numbers, but he seemed to know what he was doing as he flipped through. It dawned on her that she had no idea how well he could read, or if he could read at all. And she knew better than to ask with him in a less than jovial mood. At least here she was just trying to show him some pictures.
Inuyasha’s eyes nearly bugged out of his skull as he stared at the page. Kagome found that a little odd, but when his cheeks flushed as red as his haori, she knew something was seriously wrong. He slammed the book closed and flung it back at her as if it burned his hands. Then he muttered a ‘keh’ and stormed out of the hut.
Kagome could only stare after him. What the heck just happened? Bewildered, she picked up the book and flipped to the section of images again. They showed a cross-section of the chest and torso of a naked woman, but obviously the focus was on the fetus seen inside her belly. And it was closer to a cartoon than it was an actual photograph. Kagome had thought nothing of showing it to Inuyasha, since even the hanyou wasn’t embarrassed that easily. But his reaction had been way over the top for some reason. It took a couple minutes before she figured out a possible cause. The images of mother and fetus began on page one hundred fifty. Fifty. Not eighty as she’d told Inuyasha. With dread settling in her stomach, she flipped to page one hundred eighty.
She groaned and thumped her head against the wall. It was worse than she feared. For on page one hundred eighty was another image, this one depicting a pregnant woman and a man. Again, nothing explicit was shown, but it was very obvious that the two figures were engaged in sexual intercourse. Kagome flipped through the following and preceding pages, which were filled with more images of the amorous couple making love in various positions. Eventually she came to the first page of the chapter, which was entitled, “Lovemaking during Pregnancy.”
Kagome imagined that having sex during pregnancy would be very different from doing so while not with child. She had heard that a woman’s sexual desire could fluctuate, or that she could suffer from bleeding or other unpleasant side effects which could derail her love life. Not to mention the distended belly which would naturally make intercourse awkward if no adjustment was made. So she understood the reason for this chapter. But did they really have to put it in this particular book? And did she really have to be so careless about the page number? Did this count as a Freudian slip, or was she just unlucky?
“What’s wrong, Kagome-chan?” Sango asked. The taijiya had been awake for some time, so she had surely witnessed Inuyasha’s reaction and subsequent storm off. Too mortified to explain, Kagome instead opened the book to the page Inuyasha had seen and handed it to Sango. The taijiya gasped and blushed, favoring Kagome with a questioning look.
“Sango-chan…I just accidentally told Inuyasha to read that entire chapter.”
Sango’s eyes widened in understanding, and then she did something unexpected. She laughed. It was a sound none of them got to hear very often, merry and melodic. Normally Kagome would be thrilled to hear it, but today Sango’s amusement only annoyed her. She was about to yell at the taijiya when her laughter suddenly turned into a coughing fit. It took Sango a while to recover, but when she did she was still smiling. Kagome crossed her arms over her chest and pouted.
“Sorry, Kagome-chan. But you have to admit that it’s pretty funny.”
“No, it’s not! Inuyasha won’t be able to look at me ever again.”
“Oh, he’ll be fine. Just tell him it was a mistake. If you think about it, this is no more embarrassing than some of the other stuff that’s already happened to the two of you.”
“Thanks, Sango-chan,” Kagome muttered sarcastically, which set the taijiya to giggling once more. Okay, so maybe she was making a bigger deal of this than it actually was. It was still beyond mortifying. Explaining her error to Inuyasha was not going to be a fun conversation. She shuddered to imagine what he must be thinking right now.
“Hm,” Miroku interjected suddenly. “It sounds like that portion of your book might interest me, Kagome-sama. Would you mind letting me borrow it?”
The panicked look on Sango’s face did much to improve Kagome’s mood. The taijiya was shaking her head, pleading with her not to give Miroku any more ammunition in his perverted arsenal. Kagome grinned evilly and put her finger to her chin, pretending that she was making a difficult decision. Of course she wouldn’t show Miroku that chapter. But it was rewarding to see Sango sweat a bit.
“It’s not something that would interest you, Miroku-sama,” she stated eventually, somehow managing to keep a straight face.
“Really?” he asked doubtfully. “Are you certain?”
“Quite.”
After a moment, Miroku shrugged and rolled over to go back to sleep. Sango sighed in relief and wiped the sweat from her brow. Kagome chuckled quietly to herself; she didn’t think the taijiya would be laughing at her anymore. Emboldened by this turn of events, she picked up the book and flipped to the beginning of that ‘special’ chapter. She was already in trouble, so why not find out what all the fuss was about?
She quickly came up with a good reason not to indulge her curiosity, though by then it was too late. Before she knew it, she had read a bit too much of that chapter, since her overly vivid imagination kept trying to envision what it might be like to be the woman in the pictures. How would it feel to lie with Inuyasha in such a manner, and would she ever get to experience it? Sober. Would she ever get to experience it sober? She was sure her hormones also contributed to her being a little hot and bothered. Yes, definitely the hormones.
Once she had composed herself, she decided that she’d put off talking to Inuyasha long enough. She found him sitting on the ruins of the temple entrance, brooding in silence. He came over when she called for him, but couldn’t bring himself to look at her, as predicted.
“Inuyasha, I’m really sorry,” she blurted out, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible. “I told you the wrong page number by mistake. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
Inuyasha seemed simultaneously disappointed and relieved, though the latter emotion was more dominant. He still avoided eye contact, though perhaps that was because of what he wanted to say.
“I didn’t know women could…do that, when they got big.”
“Oh…the book says normal s-sex is fine, throughout pregnancy.”
Kagome nearly smacked herself. Great job, Kagome. Why don’t you just come right out and proposition him? Inuyasha digested this information in silence and continued to fidget. Kagome knew that if she didn’t change the subject soon, he was going to run off again.
“Do you…want to see the pictures I meant to show you?”
He finally looked at her, his expression guarded. But he was interested, that much was clear. And eventually, curiosity won out over embarrassment. At his nod, Kagome produced the book, which she had been holding behind her back, and opened it to the correct page.
“It shows you how the baby will grow inside me until he’s ready to be born,” she told him. Inuyasha grunted in reply, already engrossed. He studied each picture carefully, sometimes cocking his head to the side in that adorable way of his, as if he couldn’t fathom how the baby fit in there so snugly. When he was finished, he raised his eyes and gazed at her with a certain amount of awe in his expression.
“Can I read this when you’re not using it?”
“You can read?” Kagome asked, immediately cursing herself for not thinking her words through. Wasn’t that Inuyasha’s thing? Yet, she had done it twice in ten minutes, on top of accidentally telling him to read the ‘lovemaking’ section of the pregnancy book. She was not having a good day. Hopefully Inuyasha would have mercy on her because she was still recovering from the poison.
“I’m sorry,” she muttered, eyes downcast. “That was really insensitive of me.”
“Keh,” he replied, shrugging. Everyone he met assumed he couldn’t read, most because he was a hanyou. Kagome wasn’t like that. If she made that assumption, it was because the vast majority of people in this time were illiterate, not because he lacked the requisite intelligence. His mother had been a woman of the upper class, which meant that she knew how to read, a knowledge she had tried to pass on to her young son, despite the stubborn boy’s griping. The task had not been completed by the time she passed away, but Inuyasha had proven to be a quick learner and could still puzzle his way through most texts. Some of the modern words from Kagome’s book were a lost cause, but he knew he could ask her for an explanation if he had to.
“It’s fine, wench. I read well enough to manage. So can I borrow the damn book already?”
“S-sure!” Kagome answered, glad that he wasn’t upset with her. She did wonder, however, if Inuyasha would be reading that one certain chapter of the book in particular. Not that she could complain, either way. How could she blame him for satisfying his curiosity, when she had already done the same?
For Inuyasha’s part, he fully intended to read the book from cover to cover. Though perhaps not in exact order.
Kagome grimaced and put her hand to her temple. Easy, Kagome. Deep breaths. If you ‘osuwari’ him, he’ll only get crankier. Resisting the temptation was easier said than done. Inuyasha had been especially grouchy this morning, which she had realized was not an isolated event. Even yesterday, he had been a little crueler than necessary to Kouga, and his mood after dinner had been sour for no reason. Or so she thought at the time. Now she understood the cause of his crankiness.
Inuyasha had not slept in over five days. Dozing off at night with ears primed for danger didn’t count. Even youkai needed regular periods of deep sleep, so the mind could rest and the brain could repair itself. But good luck telling that to a sleep-deprived, surly hanyou. Especially one whose reason for keeping himself perpetually alert was to protect his friends. But such a sacrifice was no longer necessary, in Kagome’s opinion. Sango and Miroku were up and about for the first time today. All of them could keep watch; between her miko senses, and Shippou and Kirara’s sense of smell, they should be able to detect any danger long before it arrived. Again, good luck convincing Inuyasha. The five of them agreed on this, that the hanyou needed sleep, in part to make him less miserable to be around. But it was also for his own good, a message which Kagome was determined to beat into that thick skull of his if necessary. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.
“Inuyasha, I’m not telling you that you’re tired. It’s f—”
“Good, ‘cause I’m not!”
“Fine! Really, I believe you! It’s just that you’re kind of…”
“Kind of what, wench?” he demanded, and Kagome sensed that she was on thin ice.
“You…you seem like you’re not feeling well,” she amended. “You’ll feel better if you lie down for a bit. You can use my sleeping bag! It’s really nice and comfy.”
“Bah, I don’t need to lie do—”
“Please, Inuyasha. You’ve been doing so much for us lately. Anyone would get run down taking care of a bunch of humans. Go relax for a bit. We’ll keep watch.”
Perhaps it was her begging. Perhaps it was the acknowledgment of his efforts, or seeing his friends put up a united front against him. Or maybe he realized deep down that his body needed the rest. Whatever the reason, he finally caved, though he most certainly did not admit defeat.
“Dammit. All right, I’ll go lie down. But I’m not fucking sleeping.”
“That’s fine, Inuyasha,” Kagome replied sweetly. “Enjoy your rest. We’ll call you if anything interesting happens.”
He went away grumbling quietly, but Kagome did not release the breath she’d been holding until he disappeared inside the hut. She slumped over, exhausted by the effort. Fighting with Inuyasha was like arguing with a brick wall sometimes. A very immature brick wall.
“Quite impressive, Kagome-sama,” Miroku teased. “Your powers of persuasion over our stubborn friend have certainly grown stronger.”
“Ugh, I feel like I need a nap now.”
“Go and join him, by all means. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind even if you wanted to share your sleeping roll with h—ow! Sango, what ever was that for?”
“Don’t start being a pervert again just because you’re feeling better,” the taijiya told him, not fooled by his innocent act.
Miroku grinned lecherously. “Ah, but I don’t think either of you ladies are in position to criticize me for being a pervert. That chapter of your book was most enlightening, Kagome-sama.”
Both women flushed deep red immediately. Ah darn it! How has everyone managed to read that damn book already? I should have burned it. Her mistake had been believing Miroku to be fooled. She should have known better. The monk was like a bloodhound when anything or anyone of questionable morality was around.
“It even contained some fascinating information which I was not aware of,” the rejuvenated lecher continued. “I now consider myself an expert at pleasing women of all shapes and sizes. Sango, might you allow me the opportunity to demonstrate—oof!”
Kagome shook her head as Sango stormed off and Miroku rubbed his sore cranium. She sat down next to Shippou, who was watching the shenanigans of the adults while sucking on a stick of pocky.
“He did know that wasn’t going to work, right?” the kit asked.
Kagome sighed. “He’s a baka, and so is Inuyasha. Promise me you won’t grow up to be like them, Shippou-chan,” she said, only half joking.
“Keh.”
Kagome burst out laughing, positively tickled by the kit’s spot-on impression of Inuyasha. “Fine, just don’t say anything perverted like Miroku-sama!” she exclaimed between chuckles.
“I’m so misunderstood.”
Through her giggles, Kagome realized that it had been far too long since she’d spent any time with Shippou. A mistake she intended to rectify right now. She pulled him into her lap and ruffled his hair.
“Hey, I never taught you how to play with those hanafuda cards, did I?”
“No, can you teach me?”
“Of course! By the time I show the others, you’ll already be an expert and you’ll kick their butts for sure.”
“I already consider myself an expert at pleasing—”
“Don’t finish that sentence!” Kagome yelled in a failed attempt at being stern. But Shippou knew his boundaries, so he let the joke end there. Still chuckling, Kagome crept over to the hut and peeked inside. What she saw made her simultaneously want to kick Inuyasha in the head and stand there watching him all morning. Instead, she quietly retrieved the cards from her bag and exited the hut.
Sango intercepted her on the way back to Shippou. “Is Inuyasha sleeping?”
“Like a baby.”
“Stubborn dope.”
“He certainly is, Sango-chan,” Kagome replied, though her amusement gave way to concern when she saw what the older girl was wearing. She was clad in her taijiya armour and carried hiraikotsu over her shoulder; it appeared that she was going to train.
“Please don’t overdo it, Sango-chan.”
“I won’t, Kagome-chan. I just need to get away from thickheaded men for a while.”
Kagome grinned. “I know what you mean, Sango-chan.”
Miroku stood in the shade of a nearby tree. He had watched Sango train with abject fascination. How she moved, with such grace, a pure beauty which transcended the physical. The way she pushed through her body’s obvious weakness with unwavering determination. In short, he had been mesmerized. But now she was just standing there with her back to him; obviously, she had no idea he was there. It was an opportunity too good to miss.
He expected to get slapped, as he always did. He was prepared for Sango to be a bit more upset with him than usual, because he’d snuck up on her while training. But nothing could have prepared him for the taijiya’s actual reaction. As soon as his hand touched her backside, she spun and smacked it away with her left arm. In retrospect, it was very fortunate that she’d turned the way she had, for with her right hand she triggered the hidden blade which sprang up from the guard on her forearm. Then she dropped into a fighting stance with a fierce expression on her face. Miroku could very easily have lost a hand, he observed. Or worse.
Not that it would have been anything less than he deserved. Watching Sango train so exquisitely, he had forgotten what she had been through recently. He had failed to remember how she’d earned those still visible bruises on her face. He knew what had transpired inside Mukotsu’s hut; he had pestered Inuyasha one evening until the hanyou spilled the beans. So he could not use ignorance as an excuse for his insensitivity. Had he really just groped a woman who’d nearly been raped? Was he such a terrible person? He would be lucky if Sango ever spoke to him again. But as much as he wanted to undo his wrong, he couldn’t. All he could do was apologize and pray she didn’t hate him for it.
“Please forgive me, Sango,” he begged, bowing deeply. “I forgot myself. That was incredibly inconsiderate of me.”
Sango blinked, then looked down at herself in surprise. Her eyes widened in shock as she realized what she’d almost done. Even his familiar touch had set her nerves aflame, conjuring up haunting memories and sparking a fierce reflex of self-preservation. For just a moment, it hadn’t been about stopping someone from groping her. It had been about survival. And Miroku had nearly paid for this lapse in sanity with his life.
“N-no, Houshi-sama,” she stuttered as she struggled to retract her arm blade with shaking hands. “I’m the one who should apologize. I overreacted. I—”
“You reacted in a reasonable manner based on recent experience,” Miroku interrupted contritely. “The fault lies with me. Once again, I beg your forgiveness.”
Sango froze, gazing at him in confusion. Recent experience? He can’t mean…
“Kagome-chan,” she snarled, her hands clenching into fists. She had never been so furious at her friend. How could she have betrayed her trust like that?
“It was Inuyasha, actually,” Miroku stated. “And do not be upset with him. I can be very persuasive when I want to be.”
Coming from him, those words should have been delivered with a lecherous air. But Miroku was completely serious, which really brought the situation home to Sango. The monk knew. He was aware of what had happened to her, and he still groped her. Once she had processed this, she decided it was a good thing that he was practically groveling at her feet. But she believed him when he said that he’d forgotten himself. It was an accident, a momentary oversight, and it was obvious that he felt terrible about it. So she would forgive him, this one time. He could not forget himself again. If he didn’t give her the time she needed to heal, he might not survive the next mistake.
“It’s all right, Houshi-sama,” she told him, encouraged by the overwhelming relief in his eyes. “I will ask that you refrain from touching my backside in the near future.”
Under other circumstances, Miroku might have pointed out that Sango had tacitly granted him permission to renew his caresses of her backside after the ‘near future’ had passed. But now certainly wasn’t the time for that. As ecstatic as he was to receive Sango’s forgiveness, he understood what she didn’t say. This couldn’t happen again, for reasons well beyond his physical safety. His very friendship with Sango was at stake here. It would be difficult to restrain his lecherous habits, but he would manage. If he was not confident that he could keep his wayward hand to himself, he would chop it off right now and be done with it.
Sango seemed surprised by the determination in his expression, but pleased as well. She favored him with a small but sincere smile and sat down on the grass, silently inviting him to join her. He did so, making sure to keep a respectful distance. But while Sango seemed content to observe the natural beauty around them, presided over by the setting sun, Miroku was anything but content. His hand practically twitched, and it dawned on him just how much groping had become a habit. He had to wonder how many ‘moments’ he’d ruined with her. At least a few that he could remember, probably more. In the beginning, he hadn’t minded. But now, more and more he saw Sango as a potential partner, rather than simply a friend and traveling companion. He had never met anyone like her; incidents like the events inside Mukotsu’s hut reminded him just how special she was. Sango was, in short, the most incredible woman he’d ever met. And his groping had likely kept them from getting to know each other as much as they should have.
The one recent moment he hadn’t ruined, he reflected, occurred when he’d been simply too weak to consider copping a feel. Lying so close to her outside Mukotsu’s hut, both of them on the verge of losing consciousness, their hands so intimately entwined. The memory made him smile, and inspired him. Perhaps there was a way to satisfy his craving for physical contact and preserve Sango’s dignity.
“Sango, may I ask you something?”
“What is it, Houshi-sama?”
“If in the future, when I am confronted with the urge to touch you in an intimate manner…would you mind if I held your hand instead?”
Sango immediately turned beat red, and she put both hands to her flaming cheeks while turning away from him. His smile turned wry. Sango, the consummate warrior, the strongest person he knew, was still a woman, and could be delightfully feminine. It was a contradiction which never failed to entice him. As her backside was doing now, as it shifted alluringly with her nervous fidgeting. But as he thought, it was not so hard to resist the temptation, when the reason was so important.
She kept him waiting for an answer for several minutes. But he wasn’t worried. If she was going to refuse him, she wouldn’t find it so hard to look at him. Twice she turned to him, only to lose her nerve. Finally, she composed herself on the third attempt.
“T-That would be f-f-fine, Houshi-sama.”
Grinning playfully now, Miroku held up his wayward right hand expectantly. For a moment it looked like she was going to balk, but then she ever so cautiously placed her left hand against his palm. His fingers closed gently around hers, relishing the contact. Her skin was rough, from years of training and toil, and covered in a fine sheen of perspiration from her exertions. But he didn’t mind; her imperfections showed character. If he had wanted a spoiled girl with silky smooth hands, he wouldn’t feel half of what he felt for Sango.
She seemed to be holding her breath, perhaps fearing that he would do something forward, like shower her hand with kisses. But he understood how difficult it was for her to place even this much trust in him, and was not about to ruin another moment by taking things too far too soon.
So he lowered their joined hands to rest on the grass between them, and turned to gaze out toward the horizon. Somehow the countryside seemed much more beautiful now. Eventually, he felt a slight pressure against his shoulder, and glanced over to find Sango leaning hesitantly against him, face flushed and eyes downcast. It was such a small thing, but again, she was trusting him with something that perhaps she had never trusted anyone with before. So he reciprocated gently, returning just enough pressure to keep their shoulders in contact.
Together they sat, watching the sunset and enjoying life in all of its strange twists and subtle nuances.
Bankotsu had gathered the remaining Shichinintai near the base of Mount Hakurei, inside the barrier. The overwhelming purity of the area was tough on them, but at least they would be safe. And he knew it had been the right call to summon everyone here, especially considering Jakotsu’s recklessness. Suikotsu would hopefully wake up soon, but Ginkotsu was in pieces. And of the three remaining members, one of them possessed a sword hastily-mended by some random peasant. Common sense dictated having one’s weapon repaired by a professional before taking it into battle again, but Jakotsu wasn’t really thinking with his head right now. Not that he was the most sensible guy under normal circumstances.
“Relax, Jakotsu,” Bankotsu soothed, hoping to avoid pulling rank with his subordinate, something he hated doing at least in Jakotsu’s case. “You’ll still have plenty of fun. The new—”
“But oo-aniki,” the effeminate man wined, “I like Inu—”
“I know you like Inuyasha, Jakotsu,” Bankotsu declared, his tone hardening just a little. “But Naraku has other enemies. One of them is sniffing around the barrier, and I need you to go test his strength.”
“Ugh. Is he handsome, at least?” Jakotsu pondered, like a child torn between stubbornness and curiosity.
“That you’ll have to determine for yourself.”
Jakotsu groaned, then crossed his arms over his chest and pursed out his lips in a full-blown pout. “I still don’t see why we can’t all go after Inuyasha and his stupid friends,” he griped petulantly.
This time Bankotsu did roll his eyes. Because if I let you anywhere near Inuyasha, I might never get the chance to fight him myself. But that wasn’t the reason he gave his subordinate.
“We need to wait until Ginkotsu is repaired and Suikotsu is awake. And you need to have Renkotsu take a look at Jakotsutou.”
“My sword is fine!” Jakotsu snapped defensively.
“Really? Unfold it then.”
Jakotsu hesitated for a moment, then did as he was told. Bankotsu walked the length of the blade, studying every millimeter of metal. He easily located the joint which the blacksmith had fixed; the work was not shoddy by any means, but it was also not up to the standards of the Shichinintai. A lesson which Jakotsu would apparently have to learn the hard way. Bankotsu reared back and slammed his fist into the joint, in much the same way Inuyasha had done a few days earlier. The sword virtually exploded at the point of impact, the severed piece flopping uselessly onto its side as its owner let out an involuntary cry of horror.
After that, all it took was a raised eyebrow from Bankotsu to make Jakotsu hang his head and trudge off to see Renkotsu. The Shichinintai leader patted him amicably on the back as he passed, to show that there were no hard feelings. Again, he genuinely liked Jakotsu, unusual tendencies and all.
He picked up Banryuu and twirled it once in his hands. No sense in sitting here doing nothing; if he was going to face Inuyasha, he needed to train. The hanyou would have the advantages of speed and strength over him, just because of the way he was born. So Bankotsu’s technique needed to be superb, his swordsmanship overwhelming. The expert swordsman versus the powerful brute, a classic matchup if ever there was one. A battle Bankotsu knew he would win.
He thrust Banryuu forward with a blindingly quick movement and a sharp expulsion of air. And as he trained, his grin widened, his confidence growing with every strike. Wash your neck and wait for me, Inuyasha.
A/N – I know everyone doesn’t share this opinion, but I think Kouga is a decent guy for the most part. I like to believe that his love for Kagome has changed his attitude toward humans in general. Here he takes some time to blow off steam and come to terms with Kagome’s decision, then regrets how their last meeting went and tries to find her again to set things right.
Recovery
Kagome yawned and stretched, then flinched at the ache that action produced and crossed her arms over her chest in frustration. She spared a glance toward the entryway and saw bright sunlight streaming in through the shoji door. Another beautiful day, cooped up in this damn room. She was going to go insane if she had to spend another afternoon indoors. It was already the third day of her recuperation, though at times she felt like incarceration would have been a better description. To be fair, much of the first two days had been spent sleeping, probably on the order of sixteen to eighteen hours per every twenty-four. And even while awake, she hadn’t felt up to much more than brief conversation. Certainly nothing which would involve rising from her futon.
But today she felt slightly better, with an extra surge of energy in her muscles. The timing was perfect, since she was getting more than a little stir crazy. Her keeper wouldn’t like it, but she was going to get some fresh air. Describing Inuyasha in such a manner wouldn’t be fair to him, however, despite his tendency to be a bit overbearing. He had been a wonderful caretaker, for all three of them. He cooked their meals and even fed them if necessary, a task which Shippou also assisted with. Fortunately, some of the temple’s stores of food had been spared by the fire, so he didn’t have to leave them alone to hunt. But that still left the preparation of said meals, which were adequate if not extraordinary, given his lack of practice with cooking for humans. It helped that he kept things simple.
He’d also assisted them with fulfilling other bodily needs, including the preparation of baths for each them once a day. It took a lot of effort to fill a tub with warm water in this time period, and Kagome’s sore muscles greatly appreciated his efforts. He’d also been taking each of them to the temple’s lavatory several times a day. Fortunately, Kagome had never needed him to actually assist her with doing her business, though on the first day it had been a close thing. She had nearly passed out on the bathroom floor with her underwear around her ankles. That would have been a sight to behold. So no, trips to the lavatory were not pleasant. Nor was passing almost syrup-thick urine with a slight greenish tint to it, though at least that was visual evidence of the poison leaving her body. Whatever medicine that Shichinintai member had given them was working, albeit slowly. Kagome still hadn’t gotten Inuyasha to tell her the whole story of how they’d come to be resting alive at this temple, only bits and pieces. He hadn’t seemed to want to burden her with the knowledge until she was feeling better, and she’d been too tired to press the issue. Perhaps today she could get him to share with her. She wanted to know how much he’d had to give of himself in order to save them, so she could tell him how proud and grateful she was.
Inuyasha had at least taken care of himself as well, while caring for his invalid friends. When she’d woken up early in the afternoon on the first day of their recuperation, she found him topless but covered in bandages. He’d been wearing a strange set of hakama, maybe something a traveler had left in the temple at some point. His fire-rat robes had been washed and hung out to dry, their self-healing abilities mending all the cuts and holes. His white kosode was ruined, but he later managed to scrounge another robe with a similar style from some storeroom in the temple. So her concern that he would neglect his own health proved to be unfounded, though he probably only spent so much time taking care of himself because he wanted to be in top condition in case of another enemy attack. But whatever the reason, Kagome was pleased to see him recovering from their ordeal as well.
So, when Inuyasha yelled at her for leaving her futon, she would try to be nice to him. She would politely explain that she needed to get out of that room for a while. And if he was still adamant that she go back inside, there were other tactics she could use. She would try to avoid utilizing the ‘osuwari’ command if at all possible, but if he was being truly stubborn, sometimes that was the only way to deal with him.
After a deep breath, Kagome pulled back the covers and gingerly rose to her feet. She wobbled for a moment, nearly losing her balance and falling on top of Sango. Once the world stopped spinning, she moved to the opposite wall and used it for support as she made her way past her companions with baby steps. She paused only once, to glance at the taijiya whom she had nearly awoken so rudely. Sango was having the most difficult time recovering, and she spent more time sleeping than anyone. This was probably due to her small frame and the significant amount of physical activity she’d undergone in Mukotsu’s hut, which had accelerated the spread of the poison. She probably would have died first if not for the antidote, a thought which still made Kagome shudder.
Thus far, the two of them were still the only people who knew exactly what had transpired inside that hellhole. Kagome hadn’t told Inuyasha yet, though she knew she would. He deserved to know, and more than that, Sango deserved his gratitude. The taijiya’s body still bore the marks of her would-be rapist. Her face was gradually healing, the bruises shifting into a new amalgam of dismal colors each day. Every afternoon, Kagome had Inuyasha prepare an antibiotic salve which Kaede had shown her. Then after he put up a privacy screen, she rubbed it into Sango’s chest as the older girl tried to constrain herself to a few isolated hisses of discomfort. The effort left Kagome exhausted, but it was well worth it. Sango’s breasts were a patchwork of scabs and partially-mended cuts, but eventually they would heal with no permanent scarring. It also meant that Inuyasha would not have to perform the task, since he was the next logical candidate. The hanyou would surely do it without complaint, even before learning that the wounds had been inflicted as part of Sango’s attempt to save her and their baby. But it would be incredibly uncomfortable for both of them, and she was glad to spare them from that.
It was warm inside the hut, but still Kagome wore heavy flannel pajamas. The poison almost seemed to have aged her body sixty or seventy years, so that was the only way she could keep warm at night. But outside in the bright sunshine, the cooling breeze was such a relief that she simply indulged for a moment, standing on the temple grounds with her eyes closed and heaving a blissful sigh. She heard a thump, and opened her eyes to find Inuyasha standing before her, arms crossed over his chest and an irritated scowl adorning his features.
“What’re you doing out here, wench?”
Kagome took the relatively polite nature of his inquiry as a good sign. No swearing, and he wasn’t even yelling yet? Probably because of her condition, she supposed.
“I need some fresh air, Inuyasha.”
“What you need is rest, baka. Get your ass back in bed.”
Kagome grimaced. So much for being polite. “Please, Inuyasha,” she pleaded, frustrated that she was beginning to get a headache already. “I just want to spend a few hours outdoors. If you make me go back inside, I’ll go crazy!”
Inuyasha looked like he wanted to argue, but his gaze also softened. Perhaps he figured that continuing the quarrel would do her more harm than acquiescing to her request. It was probably true, she reflected; she would pass out on the ground before she gave in. And he knew it too.
“Fine!” he snapped. “But you ain’t walkin’ around.”
Without another word, he scooped her up and hopped up to the roof. Instead of cradling her in his arms, as he’d done the other night, he deposited her on the sloping wood and squatted next to her, eyeing her warily. Then he leapt down and returned moments later with the mat from her futon. Kagome grinned wryly, amused at how determined he was that she remain ‘in bed.’ At least this way he could count it as a partial victory. Not that she was complaining; she had gotten what she wanted and her backside had a nice soft surface to sit on. She thanked him for the trouble and turned her gaze to the surrounding area. It was beautiful, this part of Japan. From their high vantage point, the full breathtaking splendor of nature was on display.
For a good half hour she simply took it all in, loving every moment of fresh air in her lungs and sunlight on her skin. Then the breeze picked up again, chilling rather than cooling this time. A shiver passed through her, and a few seconds later she found Inuyasha’s haori draped over her shoulders. She pulled the garment close and turned to her hanyou.
“Thank you, Inuyasha.”
He grunted in response, but to Kagome’s surprise he didn’t seem annoyed. Perhaps because he’d seen that she wasn’t about to drop dead from being out of the hut. He hadn’t said anything since returning with her futon, but now his demeanor spoke of quiet contentment. And she knew that now was a good time for a long overdue conversation.
“Seriously, Inuyasha, thank you. You’ve been wonderful, taking care of us.”
He blushed and snorted to brush away the praise. “Keh. How many times have you taken care of me?”
“Hm. I’m just sorry I couldn’t care for your wounds this time.”
“Don’t worry about it. Shippou helped me with the bandages.”
Kagome made a mental note to thank Shippou for that. The kit had been an attentive caregiver as well, though what he could do was limited by his stature. She would make sure to let him know how much she appreciated it.
“You know, you never told me how you got to be in such rough shape. What happened after we passed out the other day?”
Inuyasha sighed, but began the tale without protest. Kagome didn’t interrupt, aside from the occasional involuntary gasp. She was especially amazed to learn that he’d transformed again, due to nearly being killed by Ginkotsu. Given the relative ease with which he’d dispatched Ginkotsu and Renkotsu at the temple, it was obvious that his near-death experience in the first battle had resulted from being saddled with unconscious friends to protect. To his credit, Inuyasha said nothing which would support this assumption, but she knew it was true. She was also impressed that he’d thought to go after Renkotsu to obtain an antidote. Inuyasha had truly shined under immense pressure, and she didn’t hesitate to let him know it.
“Keh,” he muttered in embarrassment. “Just doing what I had to.”
Kagome smiled and shook her head at his modesty. He could trash talk with the best of them in front of enemies, but with friends he was usually fairly humble. As was his comrade-in-arms, who also deserved to be lauded for her act of self-sacrifice. So she told Inuyasha of the terrible events inside Mukotsu’s hut, how the poison user had discovered their child, how Sango had distracted him as he was about to kill it, and how the two of them had barely managed to slay him instead. As expected, Inuyasha was awestruck.
“She did that for us?” he mumbled, understandably amazed. It was not a common occurrence to learn that someone was willing to endure suffering and death on your behalf, especially for a hanyou rejected by the vast majority of humans and youkai. But Inuyasha now had several such friends, and he knew that he would make the same level of sacrifice for each of them. Losing them would have been an even greater tragedy than he’d imagined.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” he muttered. “I could’ve gotten there faster, but—”
“But you couldn’t leave Miroku-sama behind,” Kagome finished for him. “Sango-chan and I would never want you to leave Miroku-sama in danger just to save us. You defeated Jakotsu and came as quickly as you could. That’s all we can ask.”
Inuyasha nodded, relieved that Kagome saw things the same way he did. A series of unfortunate events had nearly cost them their lives, but it was difficult to place blame. Of course, if they had died, Inuyasha would have found a way to blame himself. But since they were alive, it was easy to focus on helping them get well, rather than agonizing over how they had come so close to death in the first place.
Silence settled over the pair once more, as Kagome returned her attention to the gorgeous surrounding countryside. Eventually her eyelids grew heavy, and she lay down for a nap, curling onto her side and using Inuyasha’s haori as a blanket.
“You should go back inside, wench,” the hanyou told her.
“Don’t wanna,” she replied drowsily. She could practically hear his eyes rolling, but he made no further comment other than some grumbling under his breath. Warmed by his haori and the gentle caress of sunlight on her face, and watched over by the man she loved, Kagome had no trouble drifting off to slumber.
* * *
The next day, Kagome was pleased to find that she felt slightly better than the previous day. The recovery process was progressing, slowly but surely. And like yesterday, she desperately wanted to get out of the hut for a while. This time, she rolled up her futon and took it with her, knowing that Inuyasha would once again insist on her staying ‘in bed.’ As long as that bed could be out in the sunshine, she had no cause to complain. “Hey, Kagome-chan.”
Sango’s greeting startled her, and she found the taijiya gazing at her with a certain degree of irritation. Behind her, Miroku lay on his back, snoring softly.
“Hi, Sango-chan. What’s wrong?”
“You didn’t have to tell him what happened, Kagome-chan.”
Kagome quickly realized what her friend was upset about. Inuyasha must have said something to Sango last night or this morning, which probably left her feeling quite embarrassed. But that wasn’t a terrible thing, as far as Kagome was concerned.
“I had to, Sango-chan. He is the father of my baby.”
Sango sighed, but conceded the point. “Fine. Just don’t tell…anyone else.”
Kagome nodded to indicate that she wouldn’t. She had taken the decision out of Sango’s hands with regards to Inuyasha, because the hanyou had sired the child she had saved. But whether Miroku ever found out what happened inside Mukotsu’s hut should be Sango’s decision alone. Kagome supposed she could understand why the taijiya was uncomfortable with the prospect, even though the knowledge would only increase the monk’s opinion of her. But it wasn’t her call, and Miroku would never hear a word about it from her.
Sango still seemed slightly annoyed, and not really interested in further conversation, so Kagome left her to her brooding. She found Inuyasha more than willing to take her up to the roof again. And as she sat there gazing at him, her heart somewhat aflutter, she had to wonder if he’d been looking forward to this. A suspicion supported by the jealous glare he shot Shippou’s way when the kit joined them, snuggling into her lap. But she was not about to turn Shippou away; the little fox needed her too. It was enough to know that Inuyasha enjoyed their quiet alone time as much as she did.
But it was not to be. All too soon, Kagome felt a familiar sensation brushing against her consciousness. She looked to Inuyasha to gauge his reaction, and seeing that he was more annoyed than alarmed, she was able to discern who the owner of the approaching jewel shards was.
So the appearance of the whirlwind on the shrine grounds came as no surprise, though Kagome did get quite a shock when the winds subsided and Kouga materialized, standing twenty meters away and gazing up at them. For slung across the wolf’s back was her enormous yellow bag, and in his hand he carried Miroku’s staff. Inuyasha had hidden those items near the battlefield, but evidently not well enough to conceal them from a sensitive nose. As to why Kouga had them, and why he was even here at all, Kagome was quickly developing a theory.
Not that Inuyasha particularly cared about the answer to either question. He had already risen to his feet and placed his hand on Tetsusaiga’s hilt, clearly not in the mood to mess around.
“What the hell are you doing here, wolf? Drop that shit and beat it!”
“I need to talk to Kagome,” came Kouga’s reply, soft but firm. “Alone.”
“The hell you do! Get the fuck out of here before I skin you alive!”
“Inuyasha, wait a minute,” Kagome told him.
The hanyou rounded on her. “Oh, no, wench. Do not tell me to let you go with that bastard!”
“I think he just wants some closure, Inuyasha,” she said quietly, so Kouga wouldn’t overhear. The wolf prince’s demeanor was one of humility, his youkai aura subdued. Kagome could not bring herself to fear him, or to distrust his intentions. A confidence Inuyasha did not seem to share.
“I’ll give him some fucking closure,” the hanyou snarled, cracking his knuckles.
“Inuyasha…”
“Dammit, wench! What if he wants to take you away from me? What if he pulls some shit, like ‘if I can’t have her, no one will?’”
“Kouga-kun isn’t like that,” she assured him confidently. But she did understand Inuyasha’s concerns, given how violent their last encounter had been. Kouga’s murderous intent had been directed at the hanyou, however, and only before he was unequivocally told that Inuyasha was not a rapist. After that, he had behaved reasonably enough, for someone who was obviously hurting.
“And if he does try something,” Kagome stated, cutting off Inuyasha’s protest. She called upon her miko energy, allowing the pure light to glow around her for a moment, as Inuyasha took an involuntary step back with widened eyes.
“Just remember that I’m still a miko,” she finished, her tone indicating that she would not hesitate to use her power if she was wrong about Kouga’s intentions. And she wouldn’t; more than just her own life was at stake here. But she would not be lobbying to allow the wolf prince the private conversation he desired if she was not absolutely certain that he meant her—and the baby—no harm. The display of spiritual energy was really just to make Inuyasha feel better.
It worked, to a degree. The hanyou clearly didn’t like the idea, but he knew he couldn’t stop her either. Because this was one of those times when she would use the ‘osuwari’ command to get her way, if necessary. Inuyasha needed to show that he respected her enough to trust her judgment on this. He gazed at her, conflicting emotions warring in his golden pools. He wanted to trust her, knew how intelligent she was, but couldn’t completely banish his fears.
Swearing under his breath, the hanyou helped her down from the roof and walked with her until they stood a few meters before the wolf prince. Seeing Kouga up close, Kagome was more confident than ever that her assessment of him was correct.
“Stay in sight,” Inuyasha ordered, voice hard and threatening. “And if you lay one finger on her, I’m going to shred you.”
Kouga nodded his agreement to the terms, and walked off in the opposite direction, leaving Kagome to follow. She did, until he turned and sat on the ground facing her. She glanced over her shoulder to find Inuyasha anxiously keeping his distance, ready to race in if Kouga so much as looked at her the wrong way. But if they spoke quietly, the words would not reach the hanyou’s ears. Kagome smiled, grateful that Inuyasha trusted her, even if he didn’t trust Kouga. She sat down to face the wolf prince, who stared longingly at her for a few moments before looking away.
“Thanks for coming,” he said quietly.
“No problem. And thank you for returning our things. How did you find us?”
“I was looking for you. A couple days after…our last meeting, I decided that I needed to talk to you again. I stumbled across that battlefield, the one with the lingering stench of poison. There was a lot of Inuyasha’s blood on the ground, and when I found your bag…”
“You tracked us all the way here because you were worried,” Kagome finished, smiling warmly. She could tell that Kouga had put a lot of effort into locating them, following faded scent trails, all the while worrying that he might never see her again. This of course begged the question, of why he wanted to see her so badly at all.
“What did you want to talk about, Kouga-kun?”
“I, uh…” He swallowed, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Kagome waited patiently for him to find his words.
“Was it me?” he asked finally. “Was it something I did or said?”
Kagome’s smile turned sad, but she was grateful for this opportunity to explain herself fully to her one-way love interest, to let him down easy.
“No, Kouga-kun, it wasn’t you. You were always nice to me. You made me feel wanted, even when Inuyasha hurt my feelings. That’s probably why I let you keep calling me ‘your woman,’ even after I realized that I was in love with him. But…I can’t control who I love. I’m sorry.”
Kouga nodded, not appearing nearly as heartbroken as Kagome feared. Perhaps he was beginning to understand that his feelings for her were not as strong as he’d claimed them to be. After all, how could he truly love someone he barely knew? But she still hated to see him so despondent, so she tried to lighten the mood.
“Some other girl is going to be very lucky to have you, Kouga-kun.”
He snorted, but some of his old playfulness returned. “She’d have to be pretty special to compete with you, Kagome. That baka hanyou doesn’t know how lucky he is. He doesn’t even realize you’re in love with him, does he?”
“No, and please promise me you won’t tell him.”
“And let him off easy? Not a chance! You just keep him sweating until he pulls his head out of his ass, okay?”
Kagome laughed. “Deal.”
Ecstatic to have her friend back, she rose to her knees, crawled over to Kouga and hugged him. The heartfelt embrace the wolf prince gave her in return spoke of respect and affection.
“Oi! I told you not to touch her!” Inuyasha yelled, and Kagome could hear his rapidly approaching footsteps.
“Aw, shut up, you windbag!” Kouga shouted back, rising to his feet and pulling her up with him. “Don’t get all jealous over a little hug.”
“Wh—I’m not fucking jealous!” Inuyasha thundered, the sheer ferocity of his tone belying his statement. “I just don’t want her smelling all nasty. Bad enough I’m gonna have to wash her bag about fifty times to get the stench out.”
“Oh yeah? Well maybe you should worry less about how she smells and more about taking care of her!”
Inuyasha could only gape at him in shock. Evidently, now that his friendship with Kagome had been revived, Kouga felt comfortable with criticizing the hanyou for his obvious failure.
“Kagome’s normally warm skin is cool to the touch. And her lips, which usually have the color of cherry blossoms, are white as a fish’s belly. You left her in such a bad situation that she almost died! How could you be so careless?!”
“You bastard…” Inuyasha growled through gritted teeth, looking like he wanted to beat Kouga into a bloody pulp.
“It wasn’t Inuyasha’s fault, Kouga-kun,” Kagome interjected. Both males turned surprised gazes to her, but Inuyasha’s amber orbs also reflected something far deeper. Her heartbeat quickened, but she licked her suddenly dry lips and completed her statement.
“Sometimes Inuyasha…isn’t as careful as he could be. But this time it really wasn’t his fault. And besides, he went to incredible lengths to save us.”
Kouga studied her for a moment, gauging the truth of her words. Then he snorted and turned back to Inuyasha.
“Well, Inu-kurro, I guess you’re off the hook. But the next time you let Kagome get into that much danger, I’m gonna kick your ass!”
“Bring it, you mangy fleabag. Any time, any place!”
Kagome groaned and put her head in her hands. This childish bickering was going to give her a migraine pretty soon. Fortunately, this proved to be just Kouga’s ritual of pissing Inuyasha off before leaving.
“See you around, Kagome. And remember, keep him sweating!”
When Kouga was gone, Inuyasha glared at her as if to ask what the hell the wolf had meant by that. Kagome ignored him and walked back to the hut, her shoulders slumped with only partially feigned fatigue and hoping it would encourage Inuyasha to leave her alone. Luckily for both of them, he did; she would ‘osuwari’ him a hundred times before she enlightened him as to the meaning of Kouga’s little comment. She was annoyed with the wolf prince for putting her in this situation, but she had also seen past his playful exterior. He was still hurting, and probably would be for some time. Still, it warmed her heart to see him returning to his old self.
Inuyasha still seemed a little grumpy by the time Kagome woke from her afternoon nap a few hours later. He was focused on preparing the fire and cooking the evening meal, so she left him to it. Since Kouga had so graciously returned her bag, she determined to take advantage of the remaining light. Within ten minutes she’d flung her math book away in frustration, her head throbbing with every mysterious variable and unsolvable equation. But she refused to simply sit there twiddling her thumbs; perhaps some casual reading would be more agreeable? She rummaged through her bag and found the pregnancy book her mother had purchased for her.
This was much easier, she was pleased to discover. On the road, she tried to spend what little downtime she had studying. Here she had nothing but downtime, and since she wasn’t up to studying, she was grateful for her mother’s thoughtfulness. She intended to eventually read the book cover to cover, but today she just skimmed, looking at pictures and reading parts which seemed especially interesting. In the middle of the book was a long spread of images depicting the development of the fetus at various stages of pregnancy. It was fascinating to her, to see how her baby would grow and gradually take human form over the coming months.
“See something interesting, wench?”
Inuyasha’s gruff question startled her, and she realized that she had been totally engrossed. But his curiosity seemed genuine, so she decided to share.
“See for yourself,” she told him, closing the book and tossing it over. “Page one-eighty, I think it was.”
Briefly she wondered if Inuyasha could read page numbers, but he seemed to know what he was doing as he flipped through. It dawned on her that she had no idea how well he could read, or if he could read at all. And she knew better than to ask with him in a less than jovial mood. At least here she was just trying to show him some pictures.
Inuyasha’s eyes nearly bugged out of his skull as he stared at the page. Kagome found that a little odd, but when his cheeks flushed as red as his haori, she knew something was seriously wrong. He slammed the book closed and flung it back at her as if it burned his hands. Then he muttered a ‘keh’ and stormed out of the hut.
Kagome could only stare after him. What the heck just happened? Bewildered, she picked up the book and flipped to the section of images again. They showed a cross-section of the chest and torso of a naked woman, but obviously the focus was on the fetus seen inside her belly. And it was closer to a cartoon than it was an actual photograph. Kagome had thought nothing of showing it to Inuyasha, since even the hanyou wasn’t embarrassed that easily. But his reaction had been way over the top for some reason. It took a couple minutes before she figured out a possible cause. The images of mother and fetus began on page one hundred fifty. Fifty. Not eighty as she’d told Inuyasha. With dread settling in her stomach, she flipped to page one hundred eighty.
She groaned and thumped her head against the wall. It was worse than she feared. For on page one hundred eighty was another image, this one depicting a pregnant woman and a man. Again, nothing explicit was shown, but it was very obvious that the two figures were engaged in sexual intercourse. Kagome flipped through the following and preceding pages, which were filled with more images of the amorous couple making love in various positions. Eventually she came to the first page of the chapter, which was entitled, “Lovemaking during Pregnancy.”
Kagome imagined that having sex during pregnancy would be very different from doing so while not with child. She had heard that a woman’s sexual desire could fluctuate, or that she could suffer from bleeding or other unpleasant side effects which could derail her love life. Not to mention the distended belly which would naturally make intercourse awkward if no adjustment was made. So she understood the reason for this chapter. But did they really have to put it in this particular book? And did she really have to be so careless about the page number? Did this count as a Freudian slip, or was she just unlucky?
“What’s wrong, Kagome-chan?” Sango asked. The taijiya had been awake for some time, so she had surely witnessed Inuyasha’s reaction and subsequent storm off. Too mortified to explain, Kagome instead opened the book to the page Inuyasha had seen and handed it to Sango. The taijiya gasped and blushed, favoring Kagome with a questioning look.
“Sango-chan…I just accidentally told Inuyasha to read that entire chapter.”
Sango’s eyes widened in understanding, and then she did something unexpected. She laughed. It was a sound none of them got to hear very often, merry and melodic. Normally Kagome would be thrilled to hear it, but today Sango’s amusement only annoyed her. She was about to yell at the taijiya when her laughter suddenly turned into a coughing fit. It took Sango a while to recover, but when she did she was still smiling. Kagome crossed her arms over her chest and pouted.
“Sorry, Kagome-chan. But you have to admit that it’s pretty funny.”
“No, it’s not! Inuyasha won’t be able to look at me ever again.”
“Oh, he’ll be fine. Just tell him it was a mistake. If you think about it, this is no more embarrassing than some of the other stuff that’s already happened to the two of you.”
“Thanks, Sango-chan,” Kagome muttered sarcastically, which set the taijiya to giggling once more. Okay, so maybe she was making a bigger deal of this than it actually was. It was still beyond mortifying. Explaining her error to Inuyasha was not going to be a fun conversation. She shuddered to imagine what he must be thinking right now.
“Hm,” Miroku interjected suddenly. “It sounds like that portion of your book might interest me, Kagome-sama. Would you mind letting me borrow it?”
The panicked look on Sango’s face did much to improve Kagome’s mood. The taijiya was shaking her head, pleading with her not to give Miroku any more ammunition in his perverted arsenal. Kagome grinned evilly and put her finger to her chin, pretending that she was making a difficult decision. Of course she wouldn’t show Miroku that chapter. But it was rewarding to see Sango sweat a bit.
“It’s not something that would interest you, Miroku-sama,” she stated eventually, somehow managing to keep a straight face.
“Really?” he asked doubtfully. “Are you certain?”
“Quite.”
After a moment, Miroku shrugged and rolled over to go back to sleep. Sango sighed in relief and wiped the sweat from her brow. Kagome chuckled quietly to herself; she didn’t think the taijiya would be laughing at her anymore. Emboldened by this turn of events, she picked up the book and flipped to the beginning of that ‘special’ chapter. She was already in trouble, so why not find out what all the fuss was about?
She quickly came up with a good reason not to indulge her curiosity, though by then it was too late. Before she knew it, she had read a bit too much of that chapter, since her overly vivid imagination kept trying to envision what it might be like to be the woman in the pictures. How would it feel to lie with Inuyasha in such a manner, and would she ever get to experience it? Sober. Would she ever get to experience it sober? She was sure her hormones also contributed to her being a little hot and bothered. Yes, definitely the hormones.
Once she had composed herself, she decided that she’d put off talking to Inuyasha long enough. She found him sitting on the ruins of the temple entrance, brooding in silence. He came over when she called for him, but couldn’t bring himself to look at her, as predicted.
“Inuyasha, I’m really sorry,” she blurted out, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible. “I told you the wrong page number by mistake. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
Inuyasha seemed simultaneously disappointed and relieved, though the latter emotion was more dominant. He still avoided eye contact, though perhaps that was because of what he wanted to say.
“I didn’t know women could…do that, when they got big.”
“Oh…the book says normal s-sex is fine, throughout pregnancy.”
Kagome nearly smacked herself. Great job, Kagome. Why don’t you just come right out and proposition him? Inuyasha digested this information in silence and continued to fidget. Kagome knew that if she didn’t change the subject soon, he was going to run off again.
“Do you…want to see the pictures I meant to show you?”
He finally looked at her, his expression guarded. But he was interested, that much was clear. And eventually, curiosity won out over embarrassment. At his nod, Kagome produced the book, which she had been holding behind her back, and opened it to the correct page.
“It shows you how the baby will grow inside me until he’s ready to be born,” she told him. Inuyasha grunted in reply, already engrossed. He studied each picture carefully, sometimes cocking his head to the side in that adorable way of his, as if he couldn’t fathom how the baby fit in there so snugly. When he was finished, he raised his eyes and gazed at her with a certain amount of awe in his expression.
“Can I read this when you’re not using it?”
“You can read?” Kagome asked, immediately cursing herself for not thinking her words through. Wasn’t that Inuyasha’s thing? Yet, she had done it twice in ten minutes, on top of accidentally telling him to read the ‘lovemaking’ section of the pregnancy book. She was not having a good day. Hopefully Inuyasha would have mercy on her because she was still recovering from the poison.
“I’m sorry,” she muttered, eyes downcast. “That was really insensitive of me.”
“Keh,” he replied, shrugging. Everyone he met assumed he couldn’t read, most because he was a hanyou. Kagome wasn’t like that. If she made that assumption, it was because the vast majority of people in this time were illiterate, not because he lacked the requisite intelligence. His mother had been a woman of the upper class, which meant that she knew how to read, a knowledge she had tried to pass on to her young son, despite the stubborn boy’s griping. The task had not been completed by the time she passed away, but Inuyasha had proven to be a quick learner and could still puzzle his way through most texts. Some of the modern words from Kagome’s book were a lost cause, but he knew he could ask her for an explanation if he had to.
“It’s fine, wench. I read well enough to manage. So can I borrow the damn book already?”
“S-sure!” Kagome answered, glad that he wasn’t upset with her. She did wonder, however, if Inuyasha would be reading that one certain chapter of the book in particular. Not that she could complain, either way. How could she blame him for satisfying his curiosity, when she had already done the same?
For Inuyasha’s part, he fully intended to read the book from cover to cover. Though perhaps not in exact order.
* * *
“How many times do I have to fucking tell you, wench? I’m not tired!” Kagome grimaced and put her hand to her temple. Easy, Kagome. Deep breaths. If you ‘osuwari’ him, he’ll only get crankier. Resisting the temptation was easier said than done. Inuyasha had been especially grouchy this morning, which she had realized was not an isolated event. Even yesterday, he had been a little crueler than necessary to Kouga, and his mood after dinner had been sour for no reason. Or so she thought at the time. Now she understood the cause of his crankiness.
Inuyasha had not slept in over five days. Dozing off at night with ears primed for danger didn’t count. Even youkai needed regular periods of deep sleep, so the mind could rest and the brain could repair itself. But good luck telling that to a sleep-deprived, surly hanyou. Especially one whose reason for keeping himself perpetually alert was to protect his friends. But such a sacrifice was no longer necessary, in Kagome’s opinion. Sango and Miroku were up and about for the first time today. All of them could keep watch; between her miko senses, and Shippou and Kirara’s sense of smell, they should be able to detect any danger long before it arrived. Again, good luck convincing Inuyasha. The five of them agreed on this, that the hanyou needed sleep, in part to make him less miserable to be around. But it was also for his own good, a message which Kagome was determined to beat into that thick skull of his if necessary. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.
“Inuyasha, I’m not telling you that you’re tired. It’s f—”
“Good, ‘cause I’m not!”
“Fine! Really, I believe you! It’s just that you’re kind of…”
“Kind of what, wench?” he demanded, and Kagome sensed that she was on thin ice.
“You…you seem like you’re not feeling well,” she amended. “You’ll feel better if you lie down for a bit. You can use my sleeping bag! It’s really nice and comfy.”
“Bah, I don’t need to lie do—”
“Please, Inuyasha. You’ve been doing so much for us lately. Anyone would get run down taking care of a bunch of humans. Go relax for a bit. We’ll keep watch.”
Perhaps it was her begging. Perhaps it was the acknowledgment of his efforts, or seeing his friends put up a united front against him. Or maybe he realized deep down that his body needed the rest. Whatever the reason, he finally caved, though he most certainly did not admit defeat.
“Dammit. All right, I’ll go lie down. But I’m not fucking sleeping.”
“That’s fine, Inuyasha,” Kagome replied sweetly. “Enjoy your rest. We’ll call you if anything interesting happens.”
He went away grumbling quietly, but Kagome did not release the breath she’d been holding until he disappeared inside the hut. She slumped over, exhausted by the effort. Fighting with Inuyasha was like arguing with a brick wall sometimes. A very immature brick wall.
“Quite impressive, Kagome-sama,” Miroku teased. “Your powers of persuasion over our stubborn friend have certainly grown stronger.”
“Ugh, I feel like I need a nap now.”
“Go and join him, by all means. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind even if you wanted to share your sleeping roll with h—ow! Sango, what ever was that for?”
“Don’t start being a pervert again just because you’re feeling better,” the taijiya told him, not fooled by his innocent act.
Miroku grinned lecherously. “Ah, but I don’t think either of you ladies are in position to criticize me for being a pervert. That chapter of your book was most enlightening, Kagome-sama.”
Both women flushed deep red immediately. Ah darn it! How has everyone managed to read that damn book already? I should have burned it. Her mistake had been believing Miroku to be fooled. She should have known better. The monk was like a bloodhound when anything or anyone of questionable morality was around.
“It even contained some fascinating information which I was not aware of,” the rejuvenated lecher continued. “I now consider myself an expert at pleasing women of all shapes and sizes. Sango, might you allow me the opportunity to demonstrate—oof!”
Kagome shook her head as Sango stormed off and Miroku rubbed his sore cranium. She sat down next to Shippou, who was watching the shenanigans of the adults while sucking on a stick of pocky.
“He did know that wasn’t going to work, right?” the kit asked.
Kagome sighed. “He’s a baka, and so is Inuyasha. Promise me you won’t grow up to be like them, Shippou-chan,” she said, only half joking.
“Keh.”
Kagome burst out laughing, positively tickled by the kit’s spot-on impression of Inuyasha. “Fine, just don’t say anything perverted like Miroku-sama!” she exclaimed between chuckles.
“I’m so misunderstood.”
Through her giggles, Kagome realized that it had been far too long since she’d spent any time with Shippou. A mistake she intended to rectify right now. She pulled him into her lap and ruffled his hair.
“Hey, I never taught you how to play with those hanafuda cards, did I?”
“No, can you teach me?”
“Of course! By the time I show the others, you’ll already be an expert and you’ll kick their butts for sure.”
“I already consider myself an expert at pleasing—”
“Don’t finish that sentence!” Kagome yelled in a failed attempt at being stern. But Shippou knew his boundaries, so he let the joke end there. Still chuckling, Kagome crept over to the hut and peeked inside. What she saw made her simultaneously want to kick Inuyasha in the head and stand there watching him all morning. Instead, she quietly retrieved the cards from her bag and exited the hut.
Sango intercepted her on the way back to Shippou. “Is Inuyasha sleeping?”
“Like a baby.”
“Stubborn dope.”
“He certainly is, Sango-chan,” Kagome replied, though her amusement gave way to concern when she saw what the older girl was wearing. She was clad in her taijiya armour and carried hiraikotsu over her shoulder; it appeared that she was going to train.
“Please don’t overdo it, Sango-chan.”
“I won’t, Kagome-chan. I just need to get away from thickheaded men for a while.”
Kagome grinned. “I know what you mean, Sango-chan.”
* * *
Sango stood in the wooded clearing, breathing heavily and leaning on hiraikotsu. Kagome had told her not to overdo it. Too bad she hadn’t listened. Even putting forth only half of her normal training effort had left her sore in muscles she didn’t even know she had. Her right hand was still healing as well; she didn’t have all of her strength back yet. But she believed that with time she would recover most of her previous dexterity. Fortunately, the wound was quite small and apparently not in a vital area. All in all, the mental satisfaction she derived from working on her craft made up for the physical consequences. Just barely. If nothing else, at least she had proven that she wasn’t an invalid. She was no longer vulnerable to the whims and depraved purposes of enemies without Inuyasha to protect her. She could take care of herself, fight off any attacker, as she’d always done. Before that day…Miroku stood in the shade of a nearby tree. He had watched Sango train with abject fascination. How she moved, with such grace, a pure beauty which transcended the physical. The way she pushed through her body’s obvious weakness with unwavering determination. In short, he had been mesmerized. But now she was just standing there with her back to him; obviously, she had no idea he was there. It was an opportunity too good to miss.
He expected to get slapped, as he always did. He was prepared for Sango to be a bit more upset with him than usual, because he’d snuck up on her while training. But nothing could have prepared him for the taijiya’s actual reaction. As soon as his hand touched her backside, she spun and smacked it away with her left arm. In retrospect, it was very fortunate that she’d turned the way she had, for with her right hand she triggered the hidden blade which sprang up from the guard on her forearm. Then she dropped into a fighting stance with a fierce expression on her face. Miroku could very easily have lost a hand, he observed. Or worse.
Not that it would have been anything less than he deserved. Watching Sango train so exquisitely, he had forgotten what she had been through recently. He had failed to remember how she’d earned those still visible bruises on her face. He knew what had transpired inside Mukotsu’s hut; he had pestered Inuyasha one evening until the hanyou spilled the beans. So he could not use ignorance as an excuse for his insensitivity. Had he really just groped a woman who’d nearly been raped? Was he such a terrible person? He would be lucky if Sango ever spoke to him again. But as much as he wanted to undo his wrong, he couldn’t. All he could do was apologize and pray she didn’t hate him for it.
“Please forgive me, Sango,” he begged, bowing deeply. “I forgot myself. That was incredibly inconsiderate of me.”
Sango blinked, then looked down at herself in surprise. Her eyes widened in shock as she realized what she’d almost done. Even his familiar touch had set her nerves aflame, conjuring up haunting memories and sparking a fierce reflex of self-preservation. For just a moment, it hadn’t been about stopping someone from groping her. It had been about survival. And Miroku had nearly paid for this lapse in sanity with his life.
“N-no, Houshi-sama,” she stuttered as she struggled to retract her arm blade with shaking hands. “I’m the one who should apologize. I overreacted. I—”
“You reacted in a reasonable manner based on recent experience,” Miroku interrupted contritely. “The fault lies with me. Once again, I beg your forgiveness.”
Sango froze, gazing at him in confusion. Recent experience? He can’t mean…
“Kagome-chan,” she snarled, her hands clenching into fists. She had never been so furious at her friend. How could she have betrayed her trust like that?
“It was Inuyasha, actually,” Miroku stated. “And do not be upset with him. I can be very persuasive when I want to be.”
Coming from him, those words should have been delivered with a lecherous air. But Miroku was completely serious, which really brought the situation home to Sango. The monk knew. He was aware of what had happened to her, and he still groped her. Once she had processed this, she decided it was a good thing that he was practically groveling at her feet. But she believed him when he said that he’d forgotten himself. It was an accident, a momentary oversight, and it was obvious that he felt terrible about it. So she would forgive him, this one time. He could not forget himself again. If he didn’t give her the time she needed to heal, he might not survive the next mistake.
“It’s all right, Houshi-sama,” she told him, encouraged by the overwhelming relief in his eyes. “I will ask that you refrain from touching my backside in the near future.”
Under other circumstances, Miroku might have pointed out that Sango had tacitly granted him permission to renew his caresses of her backside after the ‘near future’ had passed. But now certainly wasn’t the time for that. As ecstatic as he was to receive Sango’s forgiveness, he understood what she didn’t say. This couldn’t happen again, for reasons well beyond his physical safety. His very friendship with Sango was at stake here. It would be difficult to restrain his lecherous habits, but he would manage. If he was not confident that he could keep his wayward hand to himself, he would chop it off right now and be done with it.
Sango seemed surprised by the determination in his expression, but pleased as well. She favored him with a small but sincere smile and sat down on the grass, silently inviting him to join her. He did so, making sure to keep a respectful distance. But while Sango seemed content to observe the natural beauty around them, presided over by the setting sun, Miroku was anything but content. His hand practically twitched, and it dawned on him just how much groping had become a habit. He had to wonder how many ‘moments’ he’d ruined with her. At least a few that he could remember, probably more. In the beginning, he hadn’t minded. But now, more and more he saw Sango as a potential partner, rather than simply a friend and traveling companion. He had never met anyone like her; incidents like the events inside Mukotsu’s hut reminded him just how special she was. Sango was, in short, the most incredible woman he’d ever met. And his groping had likely kept them from getting to know each other as much as they should have.
The one recent moment he hadn’t ruined, he reflected, occurred when he’d been simply too weak to consider copping a feel. Lying so close to her outside Mukotsu’s hut, both of them on the verge of losing consciousness, their hands so intimately entwined. The memory made him smile, and inspired him. Perhaps there was a way to satisfy his craving for physical contact and preserve Sango’s dignity.
“Sango, may I ask you something?”
“What is it, Houshi-sama?”
“If in the future, when I am confronted with the urge to touch you in an intimate manner…would you mind if I held your hand instead?”
Sango immediately turned beat red, and she put both hands to her flaming cheeks while turning away from him. His smile turned wry. Sango, the consummate warrior, the strongest person he knew, was still a woman, and could be delightfully feminine. It was a contradiction which never failed to entice him. As her backside was doing now, as it shifted alluringly with her nervous fidgeting. But as he thought, it was not so hard to resist the temptation, when the reason was so important.
She kept him waiting for an answer for several minutes. But he wasn’t worried. If she was going to refuse him, she wouldn’t find it so hard to look at him. Twice she turned to him, only to lose her nerve. Finally, she composed herself on the third attempt.
“T-That would be f-f-fine, Houshi-sama.”
Grinning playfully now, Miroku held up his wayward right hand expectantly. For a moment it looked like she was going to balk, but then she ever so cautiously placed her left hand against his palm. His fingers closed gently around hers, relishing the contact. Her skin was rough, from years of training and toil, and covered in a fine sheen of perspiration from her exertions. But he didn’t mind; her imperfections showed character. If he had wanted a spoiled girl with silky smooth hands, he wouldn’t feel half of what he felt for Sango.
She seemed to be holding her breath, perhaps fearing that he would do something forward, like shower her hand with kisses. But he understood how difficult it was for her to place even this much trust in him, and was not about to ruin another moment by taking things too far too soon.
So he lowered their joined hands to rest on the grass between them, and turned to gaze out toward the horizon. Somehow the countryside seemed much more beautiful now. Eventually, he felt a slight pressure against his shoulder, and glanced over to find Sango leaning hesitantly against him, face flushed and eyes downcast. It was such a small thing, but again, she was trusting him with something that perhaps she had never trusted anyone with before. So he reciprocated gently, returning just enough pressure to keep their shoulders in contact.
Together they sat, watching the sunset and enjoying life in all of its strange twists and subtle nuances.
* * *
Bankotsu rolled his eyes inwardly. He liked Jakotsu, but the guy was incredibly overdramatic sometimes. He looked about ready to throw a full-blown tantrum, all because he wasn’t being allowed to go after his ‘precious Inuyasha’ again. That ability to focus single-mindedly on a single target was one of Jakotsu’s strengths, but it could also be a weakness, when that focus turned to obsession. As his infatuation with the hanyou was quickly becoming. Bankotsu had gathered the remaining Shichinintai near the base of Mount Hakurei, inside the barrier. The overwhelming purity of the area was tough on them, but at least they would be safe. And he knew it had been the right call to summon everyone here, especially considering Jakotsu’s recklessness. Suikotsu would hopefully wake up soon, but Ginkotsu was in pieces. And of the three remaining members, one of them possessed a sword hastily-mended by some random peasant. Common sense dictated having one’s weapon repaired by a professional before taking it into battle again, but Jakotsu wasn’t really thinking with his head right now. Not that he was the most sensible guy under normal circumstances.
“Relax, Jakotsu,” Bankotsu soothed, hoping to avoid pulling rank with his subordinate, something he hated doing at least in Jakotsu’s case. “You’ll still have plenty of fun. The new—”
“But oo-aniki,” the effeminate man wined, “I like Inu—”
“I know you like Inuyasha, Jakotsu,” Bankotsu declared, his tone hardening just a little. “But Naraku has other enemies. One of them is sniffing around the barrier, and I need you to go test his strength.”
“Ugh. Is he handsome, at least?” Jakotsu pondered, like a child torn between stubbornness and curiosity.
“That you’ll have to determine for yourself.”
Jakotsu groaned, then crossed his arms over his chest and pursed out his lips in a full-blown pout. “I still don’t see why we can’t all go after Inuyasha and his stupid friends,” he griped petulantly.
This time Bankotsu did roll his eyes. Because if I let you anywhere near Inuyasha, I might never get the chance to fight him myself. But that wasn’t the reason he gave his subordinate.
“We need to wait until Ginkotsu is repaired and Suikotsu is awake. And you need to have Renkotsu take a look at Jakotsutou.”
“My sword is fine!” Jakotsu snapped defensively.
“Really? Unfold it then.”
Jakotsu hesitated for a moment, then did as he was told. Bankotsu walked the length of the blade, studying every millimeter of metal. He easily located the joint which the blacksmith had fixed; the work was not shoddy by any means, but it was also not up to the standards of the Shichinintai. A lesson which Jakotsu would apparently have to learn the hard way. Bankotsu reared back and slammed his fist into the joint, in much the same way Inuyasha had done a few days earlier. The sword virtually exploded at the point of impact, the severed piece flopping uselessly onto its side as its owner let out an involuntary cry of horror.
After that, all it took was a raised eyebrow from Bankotsu to make Jakotsu hang his head and trudge off to see Renkotsu. The Shichinintai leader patted him amicably on the back as he passed, to show that there were no hard feelings. Again, he genuinely liked Jakotsu, unusual tendencies and all.
He picked up Banryuu and twirled it once in his hands. No sense in sitting here doing nothing; if he was going to face Inuyasha, he needed to train. The hanyou would have the advantages of speed and strength over him, just because of the way he was born. So Bankotsu’s technique needed to be superb, his swordsmanship overwhelming. The expert swordsman versus the powerful brute, a classic matchup if ever there was one. A battle Bankotsu knew he would win.
He thrust Banryuu forward with a blindingly quick movement and a sharp expulsion of air. And as he trained, his grin widened, his confidence growing with every strike. Wash your neck and wait for me, Inuyasha.
A/N – I know everyone doesn’t share this opinion, but I think Kouga is a decent guy for the most part. I like to believe that his love for Kagome has changed his attitude toward humans in general. Here he takes some time to blow off steam and come to terms with Kagome’s decision, then regrets how their last meeting went and tries to find her again to set things right.