InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Til Death Do Us Part ❯ The Truth ( Chapter 19 )

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plotline.

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AN: Hello people, hope I didn't keep you all waiting too long. First and foremost, thank you all for your reviews and feedback. I love you all so much! You guys are really worked up about the Kikyo and child factor that's being incorporated. :P Ok, I've gotten a couple reviews where people are telling me that this recent turn of events has turned into soap opera with all the baby mama drama. Let me clear the air. ::steps on soap box and clears throat:: I have had the outline to this story for some time now. All major events that have occurred have been a part of a my grand scheme and nothing I did was right off the top of my head, especially Kikyo coming into the picture with Inuyasha's so called child. Although I don't like the idea, it has to be done and in the future, if you continue reading, you'll know why. And for those who are confused as to whether Inuyasha is a virgin or not, I advice you to read this chapter.

Big thanks to Kimmie for helping me out with this chapter and for eliminating all of my errors and typos. ::hands beta bouquet of roses::

And for those who want to be alerted every time I update, check out my page and click on the link to sign up. You can thank Kimmie for that too.

Dawn Sweetie: Thank you for giving me feedback on my story and on my grammar usage. ::blushes:: I've always hated English even though I love writing. I'll definitely go eradicate the errors in the last chapter as soon as I get a chance. Thank you!

Slant-eyes03: I can understand your obvious issue with the current change of events that the story has taken. Hopefully I explained it well enough in the previous paragraph why things are the way they are. And if it helps you rest better at night, I'll leave you with this. Things aren't always what they seem. ;)

Thea: Well, I hope I cleared things up for you enough in the previous paragraph. You'll have to understand that everything in my story has a purpose, including the reappearance of Kikyo and the baby. I was in no way intending for the story to turn into a soap opera since that's not the directing I was heading in. I don't plan on making Kagome into a sniveling, whining little girl who cries when something doesn't go her way. In fact, she will come to realize things about herself and their relationship within the next couple of chapters. Thank you for your feedback and criticism. It's greatly appreciated.

Asya18: If you don't wish to continue reading, I'm fine with that though you won't get to see how things turn out in the end. And I know that it's very cliché using Kikyo as the antagonist in the story but it is for a better cause. I portrayed Kikyo in such a role because the story needed a person who would challenge the main couple's conception of love. Only if Kagome and Inuyasha are able to overcome this ordeal, will their love and bond continue to grow and strengthen. Thank you for your criticism and I hope that you read this chapter before completely writing off the story.

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The Truth

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"I think it's about time you pay up for child support, don't you?"

Kagome's jaw dropped open, the impact of the situation hitting her like a punch in the stomach. It felt as if a hand had reached inside of her chest and was slowly but surely compressing all of the air out of her lungs, leading her to think that perhaps this was all some kind of twisted nightmare she would hopefully wake up from really soon. It had to be a nightmare because had not Inuyasha in fact told her in the beginning that he was still a virgin? And virgins don't have females with questionable pasts and reputations randomly popping up claiming they were mothering their illegitimate child.

She was lying. She had to be lying. The child couldn't be her hanyou's child. Inuyasha wouldn't lie to her about being a virgin or withhold vital information about having a child by her of all people. She was the one who ruined their relationship in the first place.

"Inuyasha," she ripped her gaze from the yawning baby to the pale form of her husband, struggling to force oxygen back into her lungs and praying her voice wouldn't crack, "what she's saying, it's not true….right? It…it can't be true," Kagome stumbled over her words, attempting to rationalize the possible likelihoods that the child might be fathered by another white haired, golden eyed inuyoukai in her mind while fighting off the sudden wave of nausea.

Thrown amber eyes stared into an identical pair of orbs. "It…it can't be mine," Inuyasha whispered, his voice thick with emotion as he tried to fathom why the little bundle before him smelled of his and Kikyo's mingled scents.

Kikyo rolled her eyes at the hanyou's phased expression. "It is yours Inuyasha." She abruptly and none too gently seized the baby out of the other man's arms and stripped him of the his blanket revealing the rest of the baby's body along with a pair of fuzzy, snow white doggy ears atop his tiny head. "Believe me now?"

"How," Inuyasha managed to sputter, the blood draining from his face completely.

"Oh, I can answer that to you," Kikyo replied handing the child back to Shinju. "Remember that wild graduation party you threw last year, where everybody who was anybody was invited to?"

"I don't fucking remember inviting you!" Inuyasha snapped, his composure slowly returning.

"Even though you forgot to invite me, I thought I'd stop by. Not that you'd remember. When I got there, you were so drunk, you could barely see straight. Now then, since you remember not inviting me, you must recall inviting me up to your room to have a little fun?" She smirked when the little bit of color that had returned to his face faded again. "You pulled me into your room and threw me on the bed where you…screwed the brains out of my head until passing out later on." She tapped a finger on her chin thoughtfully. "Granted, you did keep calling out Kagome's name every time we climaxed, but we were having such a good time, I didn't have the heart to correct you."

"You lying bitch!" Inuyasha spat, unable to quell the quickly arising disgust and anger within him at the thought. "I would never fuck you, even in a drunken stupor! Get the hell out of my house!" Who was she coming into his place trying to destroy his happy home?

She rolled her eyes and readjusted her purse strap on her shoulder. "I didn't want to take this to court and make it public, but I will not struggle to raise this child on my own while you selfishly wallow in your money and ignore your duties as a father. Can you not smell his scent? And don't try to lie. I've already got the DNA test back from the doctor. He. Is. Yours." Kikyo opened her bag and took out a white envelope. "Here are the results if you need more proof." She waved it tauntingly in front of his face.

Kagome backed away from Inuyasha, her hand over her mouth to hold back the bile that had arisen in her throat, her face a frozen mask of shock, the dagger of betrayal that had pierced a hole into her heart killing her from the inside out. It was too much. It was all too much. The child was his. He knew it was his but wasn't willing to admit it. The tightness in her chest grew tighter, the knife in her heart twisting within the organ agonizingly. The walls of the spacious foyer seemed to close in on her. She had to get out of there.

"Fuck you and your results! I don't care what some doctor s-" All of the anger instantly dwindled from his body as his wife brushed past him and their unwanted company en route for the front doors. "Kagome, wait!" Panicked, Inuyasha ran after her and grabbed her hand.

"Don't touch me!" she snarled wrenching her limb from his claws, blue eyes ablaze with fury, successfully concealing all the bitterness, betrayal, hurt, and distress that was raging inside her soul.

Pain reflected in his amber depths. "Kagome, please, don't listen to her." He reached for her hand, shock registering on his face when she recoiled from his touch.

Kagome leveled her irregular breathing and focused on getting out her next few words. "Inuyasha," she said evenly, her eyes averted to the spiral staircase, incapable of looking him in the eyes for fear that she would break down, "tell me the truth. Is he or is he not your child? We weren't together during that point in your life, so don't give me that crap about you being faithful to only me."

"I know that we weren't together then but I told you that I couldn't bring myself to sleep with any girl, Kikyo included. In fact, I haven't even spoken to her since the day at the pool. I don't know what the hell she's talking about," he implored earnestly, his hands itching to reach out and encompass her in his arms or at least touch her.

Blue eyes immediately trained on him, the fire within burning with hatred. "Don't lie to me Inuyasha and stop evading my question. Is it or isn't it your child?"

The blood in his veins turned cold with fear at the ire and repulsion in her eyes directed at him. He was losing her. "The kid has my scent and the Takeda traits but that doesn't mean-"

"That's all I needed to hear." She turned her back on him and opened the front doors.

"Wait!"

"Why should I?" she snapped whirling around to stare him down face to face. "You obviously didn't!"

"Damnit wench, I did have that graduation party and I did get smashed but I sure as hell didn't sleep with her! I remember clear as day waking up the next morning alone in bed!"

"I left before you woke up," Kikyo cut in, all too happy to be of some help in clearing up the matter.

"Sitsitsitsitsit!"

Not bothering with the usual expletives that customarily accompanied his bouts with the floor, the hanyou struggled against the pull of the spell, picking up his head to take one last look at his love as she yanked open the doors and desperately racked his brain for something to say that would make her believe him. "Please Kagome," Inuyasha pleaded, his voice cracking and wavering with barely contained emotion, his golden eyes conveying the pain and anxiety that was violently clawing at his soul, "don't leave me. I need you. I love you. I won't…I can't go on without you. Please, don't abandon me." She couldn't leave him now, not when he was so close to having her forever.

Kagome hesitated, her hand trembling on the handle of the door, his heartfelt words tearing her apart inside. Tears pricked the backs of her eyeballs, but she refused to give in and steeled her resolve as well as her voice. "I'm sorry Inuyasha," she said calmly, "I'm not abandoning you, I just need some air; some time to think. I'll be back later." With that said, she ran out of the house as fast as her legs could carry her, the doors slamming behind her.

"Kagome!" he yelled, and snarled intolerantly until the subduing spell wore off. No sooner had it let up when he was off the ground, racing outside just in time to see her Aston Martin barrel out of the garage at breakneck speed and down the gravel driveway.

"Kagome," he murmured brokenly, his ears drooping against his head dismally. She had said that she would be back later, but that didn't stop his heart from crying out in pain.

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Kagome stamped down on the gas pedal, her knuckles white on the steering wheel as the wind whipped through her raven tresses, sending them flailing all over the place. Discounting the coldness that seeped into her scalp attributable to the wetness of her hair, she submerged herself with focusing on zipping and weaving in and out of the slow traffic pattern. It had been too long since she last drove. She had forgotten the feeling of absolute freedom that came with flying down the road at top speed without a care in the world.

A sudden image of the baby popped into her head, inflicting another piercing jab of betrayal to her pain laden heart. She swallowed the lump in her throat. Why was she so worked up over this? They weren't together during that point in his life. And it wasn't as if what he did was intentional. It was just an honest mistake. So it would be pointless to hold a grudge against Inuyasha since it wasn't his fault that he got drunk at one of his nefarious parties and screwed Kikyo in his inebriated state of consciousness because that was the right thing to do, right? Somehow, that just didn't seem fair to her.

The black sedan in the lane next to her honked angrily as the Aston Martin veered dangerously close to them. Kagome snapped out of her daze and yanked her silver vehicle back into the center of her lane. Gods, she needed a drink. A couple of shots of tequila would definitely do the trick. But since she was nowhere near a bar, she elected to stop by the marina. Her father used to take her down by the water when she was smaller before his company hit it big and his time wasn't consumed 24/7 with his work. Staring at the water always had a calming affect on her whenever she looked out across the crashing waves towards the horizon.

It took her no time flat to arrive at the marina given that she had been there so many times in the past and was driving over ninety miles per hour. Kagome pulled her expensive vehicle up alongside a shipment of crates and put it into park. Cutting the engine, Kagome released a shaky breath and rested the bottom of her chin atop of the steering wheel, her eyes closing for a moment as the emotions and thoughts she had tried to suppress upon departing the house flooded her mind full force, with the absence of something to fully concentrate on.

There was no denying it. It was a child of Takeda blood, no doubt. It had to be Inuyasha's. Sesshoumaru wasn't one to lower himself by sleeping around with women, especially a woman like Kikyo. All of his cousins lived in America, so unless Kikyo made a round trip to the US to screw one of them just to get back at Inuyasha and impose on his life for whatever twisted reason, the baby had to be his. The very conception made her sick to her stomach.

Why did everything have to go wrong now, just when her life was beginning to come together? It seemed as though every time she came even a miniscule close to achieving true happiness with Inuyasha, an obstacle always managed to get in the way of their being with each other. And on both occasions that obstacle had been Kikyo. What was it with her and causing disturbances between she and Inuyasha? It was like she had an internal beckon to hone in exactly when their relationship was at its peak and decide to come in and ruin things.

`Perfect timing as always,' Kagome thought bitterly unbuckling her seatbelt and opening the car door. Maybe the fresh smell of salt water would help clear her mind.

A calloused hand clamped tightly around her neck before she could place her foot on the wooden dock and roughly dragged her out of her vehicle.

"Surprise, surprise you little bitch."

Fear and panic gripped her chest as she stared into the shockingly familiar face of the chauffeur who had driven her and Inuyasha to the airstrip and to the premeditated plane crash, the black patch over his right eye making him seem like an even more intimidating foe. "W-what do y-you want?" she managed to squeeze out within his constricting hold, which only got tighter as he increased the pressure against her windpipe.

"What do I want?" he reiterated, a cold smirk curving at his thin lips, his murderous brown eyes boring into hers. "I want to take my claws and peel the very skin off of your entire body or perhaps tear open your stomach and watch your innards seep out as you die a slow agonizing death for what you did to me." He held up his other hand, the hand that was missing both a pinky and a thumb, both of which were covered with white bandages, and lifted the patch from his eye.

If there hadn't been a hand wringing the very life out of her or if tiny black dots hadn't been obscuring her vision, Kagome would have without doubt threw up then and there. All that was left of his eye was a dark cavern of dried blood within his skull, gory severed tendons hanging limply within the center of his socket.

"Not exactly a sight for sore eyes am I?" he growled darkly lowering the patch back over what was left of his right eye, "This is what I get when I leave a job incomplete. Lucky for you it's not up to me to determine what fate has in store for you, but my employer who'd rather for you to die with some manner of dignity." Deserting her throat for her ponytail, the neko youkai gave an unsympathetic yank to her fastened mane and began dragging her gasping form towards the edge of the pier where dock met ocean.

"Stay put wench, I'll be right back." Shoving her roughly onto the wood waterfront, he walked off in the direction of his black sedan. With one click of his automated key, he popped the trunk to the vehicle and began rummaging within its contents. He returned within seconds with duck tape and a rope in hand, the corners of his mouth upturned in a malicious smirk as he gazed down at her unmoving body. "Time to die little girl."

He bent down, assuming that she had passed out from lack of oxygen and that his task would be smooth sailing from here on out. Kagome cracked an eye, waiting for the exact moment when his hand reached for hers, and then with all the force she could conjure, swung her leg out and swept his feet from under him with her leg. Caught of guard by her sudden brazenness, his eye widened in surprise as he fell flat on his back with a loud thud.

Kagome scrambled up as quickly as she could to her feet and made a mad dash for her car. Diving into her silver vehicle, she slammed the door shut, locked the doors, and reached to turn the key to the ignition only to find that it was gone. "Where are my keys?" She frantically searched for them along the dashboard and on the floor, her anxiety and fear skyrocketing with the passing of each second.

An unexpected knock to her window disrupted her frenzied hunt. Kagome looked up, the rhythm of her heart skipping a beat when she saw her keys dangling from his distorted hand. "I do think that you left these behind," he said with a cynical sneer.

Kagome didn't waste another moment staring at his profile through the window. But before she had to clamber across to the passenger side, her attacker smashed through the glass, grabbed her by the back of the neck, and wretched her violently out of the splintered window. She smothered a cry, the biting sting of broken glass cutting into her skin sending pain shooting throughout her system.

"Bad move sweetie." He dumped her on the floor in a bloodied heap. "If you sit still and shut up, this will all be over soon." He pinned her down with one knee on her stomach so he could tie the noose around her neck and growled in irritation when she started flailing her arms in a desperate attempt to defend herself, her nails raking across his face and along his arms while he tried to restrain her as she screamed bloody murder in hopes that someone would come to her rescue.

Frustrated now with her wild thrashes and pleas for help, the neko youkai took his elbow and rammed it forcefully against the side of her head. Pain like no other exploded through her senses, a flood of white obscuring her vision and sending her spiraling into a world of dizziness. Kagome screwed her eyes shut to block out the throbbing pain of the crack to her skull and the blinding whiteness that accompanied it.

"This ought to shut you up." He slapped a piece of duct tape over her mouth and roped her wrists together before she could retaliate, his brows lowering in a frown as he surveyed his handiwork. "This was supposed to look like an accident, but I suppose dead is dead either way." His usual twisted smirk returned. "I could always make it look as though you committed suicide after discovering that your mate fucked another woman and fathered a bastard son. By the time they find your body, if they do at all, the only thing that will be left of you is a half masticated cor-…ump!"

`Ump?What is ump?' Hesitantly, Kagome opened her eyes and widened them further at the sight that awaited her.

Koji cracked his knuckles, a half smile curving on his face as the neko youkai fell to the ground unconscious. "Are you ok, Kagome-san?"

Relief spread through her like wildfire, effectively chasing away the fear and panic that had held her soul captive for the last ten minutes. She nodded to affirm that she was fine.

The inuyoukai nudged the fallen assailant with his foot to ensure that he was out for the count before stepping over his body to assist his ward with her bondages. With one flick of the wrist, Koji used his claws to slice the ropes that had apprehended her wrists and quickly ripped the duct tape from her mouth.

Wincing at the sharp sting that came with the action, Kagome took the bodyguard's outstretched hand and allowed herself to be pulled up off the ground to her feet. "Thank you Koji. How did you know I was here?"

"Did you really think you could get away without us knowing where you were?" he teased to ease some of the tension that lay heavily in the air.

"You all weren't the ones I was trying to escape from," she muttered rubbing her tender wrists.

"All of your vehicles have been rigged with a tracking device that allows us to know where you are should you choose to go out for a joy ride without informing us of your plans just in case something like this happens." He dropped to his knees and pulled a pair of handcuffs out of his jacket pocket. "The police should be arriving to pick up this guy within a matter of minutes," he said snapping the metal cuffs around the neko's wrists, his pale green orbs resting on the weary girl before him. "They might want you to make a statement."

Kagome's chest heaved tiredly, her ears picking up the wailing of sirens in the distance. "Do I have to?"

He gave her a look of understanding. "No. We can wait until tomorrow after you are all patched up and rested. Would you like me to take you home?"

"Do you think you could take me to my parents' house? I think I'll just stay there for a few days, if you don't mind."

"Not at all."

The police cruisers made their entrance minutes later and after Koji briefly explained what had transpired and that the witness would be giving her statement the first thing in the morning, they departed.

Neither of them said anything more the entire trip to her parent's home. All Kagome wanted to do was curl up on her bed and go to sleep. This had been the day from hell. The rollercoaster of emotions and turmoil her mind and body had gone through was enough to fall out in exhaustion. She was emotionally and mentally drained. She found out that her husband had fathered her worst enemy's child and had almost gotten killed by a malformed attacker.

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"How do we know that this testimony isn't falsified?" Sesshoumaru questioned, aloof golden eyes trained on the woman across the table, the DNA results from the paternity test lying scattered before him.

Kikyo sucked her teeth in annoyance. "What is it with you people and not accepting the truth for what it is? The child is Inuyasha's, you know it, he knows it. Accept it."

Sesshoumaru stared at her unconvinced. "Is there anyone who could act as an alibi in your account?"

"Miroku can." She turned her brown eyes on the monk sitting on the other side of the hanyou.

"Is that true Miroku?" Sango asked her boyfriend, dreading the answer to the question for fear that it would confirm what Kikyo was saying.

The monk grimaced, the memories of that night clear as day to him since he hadn't been stone drunk like his friend. "She was there," he sighed regrettably, "though I only saw her for a fleeting moment. I was walking into the kitchen to pick up some…sodas when I thought I saw her pass by me and go into the hallway. I figured I was just imaging things since we hadn't talked to her since sophomore year."

Kikyo blinked innocently at Sesshoumaru. "I told you I was telling the truth."

"So why after all this time are you contacting my brother for child support when you knew since last year that you were pregnant?" the taiyoukai fired unrelentingly.

She sighed and looked at her hands that rested in her lap. "I was too ashamed to tell anyone except for my parents and a few of my close friends. I know I was a big flirt and tease back then, but somehow, being pregnant changed all that. I guess having a child, changed my entire outlook on life. I decided to have the baby and not to go on to college. I got a job working as a secretary so I could provide for my child without depending on anyone else."

"That still doesn't explain why you choose now to come out in the open with your illegitimate child," Sesshoumaru said, the timbre of his voice deadpan serious, his eyes straying to the sleeping bundle in her companion's arms in the chair next to her.

"I was getting to that part. Anyway, a few months after the baby was born, I saw the article in the newspaper about their wedding. At first I was indifferent about the whole affair, but then I started to think. Why should I suffer and struggle to put food on the table for myself and my child when Inuyasha is living the high life with his new wife? I was going to come forward sooner but then I heard about their plane crashing in the ocean. I thought he was dead until a week later they were found marooned on an island and brought them back to Tokyo. So I waited another week until things returned to normal, and here I am. And frankly, I'm tired of waiting around to be heard."

"Until further evidence can be established in regards to the parentage of the child, we will not be signing over anything." Sesshoumaru pushed the papers over to her.

Something akin to anger flitted across the woman's face before being quickly concealed behind a facade of nonchalance. "I didn't want to go to court with this. I was hoping that everything would be settled peacefully behind closed doors since I know that your families don't want any negative attention at such a crucial point in your merger, but know this: I will do anything and everything it takes to secure the future of my child." Her brown eyes bore defiantly into his icy golden ones.

The stoic taiyoukai stared back at her unflinchingly. "I will schedule a paternity test for tomorrow at 9 o'clock sharp which will be conducted by the Takeda family doctor."

A flicker of something that could have been imagined left as soon as it appeared within her chocolate depths. Her eyes narrowed. "We don't have to go through with another paternity test by a certified doctor. This one should be suffice."

"Well it's not. Either you go through with the testing or we can take this to court, and rest assured that I have the best lawyers at my beck and call and I will not hesitate to disclose whatever surreptitious scheme you are trying to pull here to the public."

The nerve in her jaw began to twitch. Without another word, Kikyo stiffly stood to her feet. "Shinju, we're leaving." Nodding curtly in adieu to the occupants of the room, she briskly pivoted on her heels and left.

"So, what's the synopsis?" Miroku asked the taiyoukai once he was positive their guests were out of earshot.

Silver brows drew together, the corners of his mouth tugging downward into a frown. "There's something wrong with this picture. I'm going to have my people do some digging as soon as possible. Something about her story doesn't stick and that pup…" His frown deepened, "there's something peculiar about that pup's scent. It smells of our clan and then it doesn't."

"So, do you think it's really Inuyasha's child?" Kouga asked from his propped position against the doorframe.

"It could and could not. At this point in time I don't have enough information to give you a straight answer. Usually members of an inuyoukai clan are able to verify whether a pup is of their blood by scent, but that pup's scent is somehow…distorted," he said for lack of better word.

"How can somebody's scent be distorted?" Sango inquired, her face scrunched in confusion.

Irritation flashed through his eyes at their ignorance. "Usually there is a stable balance or combination of both parents' scents on a pup. But in that pup's scent there was instability in the equilibrium. There was too much of her scent and not enough of Inuyasha's. This is what causes the distortion. Now, where is my idiot brother so that I may speak with him?"

"Upstairs," Ayame sighed. "After Kagome left, he started yelling and cursing at Kikyo for ruining things for him so heatedly that Kouga and Miroku had to restrain and drag him to his room for fear he would hurt her. He made a lot of commotion at first, but it all stopped a couple minutes later. He refused to come down when you got here and we haven't heard a peep from him since."

Sesshoumaru inhibited the urge to roll his eyes at his brothers' incapability to act his age and handle his own business. It was just like him to avoid the problem instead of facing it head on. "Direct me to his quarters."

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`Kagome.' Inuyasha's heart sank further into the pit of his stomach as he thought about how she had looked at him earlier, the betrayal and hurt and anger that swirled in her sapphire depths clawed mercilessly at his soul. He had wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and reassure her that it wasn't his child; that he had had nothing to do with Kikyo ever since she walked out of his life; that the constant thoughts and memories of her prevented any chances of other women from holding a permanent place in his life.

She hadn't believed that the kid wasn't his, and why should she? He had given her reason enough after confessing that he had been a bit of a livewire, the latter part of his life while on the island. He had been wild, his behavior had been a little, well really off the chain, but he had changed for the better ever since she stepped back into his life.

The past didn't matter anymore, or at least wouldn't have had there not been a little bundle of aggravation that recently entered his life. When kids were involved, it changed everything. His stomach turned in aversion for himself. What if he had slept with Kikyo? And what if she wasn't lying? But wouldn't he remember loosing his virginity? Then again he could barely remember what he had for dinner last night. How the hell was he supposed to recall if he slept with some random chick in a drunken haze of stupidity and lack of judgment?

`But with Kikyo of all people?' The bitch was his sworn enemy. When Kagome withdrew from their school after Kikyo and her evil posse spray painted the cruel slander up on the walls of every corridor then tried to hook up with him since his ex was out of the picture, he had told her off. Just because Kagome wasn't in his life anymore didn't mean he was going to date the very bitch that had started all the drama in the first place.

`Maybe this was her way of getting back at me; at us,' Inuyasha thought grimly, `and what a way to hit me where it hurts. Kagome.' It was no wonder she left him. He would understand if she wanted nothing more to do with him, while it did nothing to soothe the utter despair and worthlessness that overtook his soul with her no longer by his side.

His ears suddenly swiveled in the direction of his locked doors, forewarning him of the approach of a visitor. "Go away," he growled at his brother, not in the mood for another one of his lectures.

"Since when do I take orders from a half breed?" Sesshoumaru countered smoothly from the opposing side of the doors.

"Since now, you pompous ass."

The locked handles of the doors were abruptly wretched through the other side, the mahogany wood splintering loudly in response as the impervious taiyoukai pushed the doors open. Sesshoumaru scowled upon entering the unlighted room. The room had, in the simplest of words, been desecrated beyond recognition. The wallpaper had been shredded to tatters, some of it still clinging flimsily to the wall. The bed, or what was left of it anyway, had been split down the middle, the comforter and sheets lay scattered in tatters amongst the other debris in the aftermath of the hanyou's rampage. Mirrors were smashed, dressers and drawers lay broken in pieces, the sofas had been ripped apart, and the window curtains had been torn down.

A pair of golden eyes glittered in a dark corner of the room regarding the unsolicited visitor warily. "Why the hell are you here?"

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes. "That much should be obvious."

Inuyasha didn't respond immediately, but when he did, none of the malice and irritation that he had spoken with previously belied his voice. "How'd it go?"

"We'll know for certain tomorrow after another paternity test is administered," he responded, not wanting to instill false hope with his recent findings that could have been his imagination. But then again, he was not one to imagine.

The hanyou sighed regrettably and slammed his head against the wall he was leaning against. "I'm such a fool."

"You don't need to tell me. I already know."

"She left me, but I guess you already knew that too," he added bitterly. "We've been through a lot of shit, the both of us, whether it was together or separated. I believed that all of the obstacles and other crap we were subjected too only helped solidify our feelings for each other. You know, make our bond stronger than before. I mean, I know we haven't gone through the inuyoukai mating ritual yet, hell; we've hardly gotten to third base without someone interrupting us. But even though I haven't given her my mark yet and officially joined our souls together, it's like we already share a special bond, something that can't be undone."

"If this bond is so strong, then why are you up here moping and acting like she's never going to come back?"

His ears drooped slightly, his eyes glazing over wistfully. "Because for some reason, I feel as though nothing will be the same again, at least not with this kid in the picture. I already feel as though she's shutting me out of her life. Just a couple of minutes ago, her brother Souta called and said she had almost been killed and was staying over at her parents' place for the time being. She didn't want to talk to me." He looked up uncertainly to his brother. "Do you think I should go over there and make sure that she's ok?"

"Do you really believe that your love for her and hers of you is strong?"

"Yes," Inuyasha answered, unsure of what that had to do with his going to see his wife.

"Then trust your instincts and let them guide you in the right direction. I know you want to see how your mate is faring, but I think that she needs this time to herself to think things over. If this woman really loves you, then she will need no incentive to come back to you or reassure that the pup is yours. If she loves you enough, she will come back on her own free will because, if what you say is true about the bond that you two share, it will only strengthen."

He was right. If Kagome truly did love him, she would come back to him regardless if the pup was his or not. His lips curled into a smile. "That's not half bad advice Fluffy, thanks."

The taiyoukai bristled at the nickname. "Do not address me by that ridiculous name."

"Whatever you say, Fluffy." Inuyasha grinned when his brother began to growl in a dangerously low tone.

Without a backwards glance, Sesshoumaru exited the room. "And do clean up this pig sty of yours. What woman in her right mind would want to consummate her feelings for you in a room that looked as though a tornado tore through it?"

"Keh," Inuyasha blushed, glad that his brother's back was turned so he wouldn't see his beet red face. With a considerable load lifted from his chest, the hanyou came to his feet and looked around at the extent of the damage he had caused in his moment of fury. Sheepishly, he began to pick up the ripped pieces of clothing and tossed them in a pile near the balcony doors. He had to get things ready for Kagome's return.

`And what if she doesn't return?' a small, taunting voice in the recesses of his mind sneered.

That stopped Inuyasha in his tracks, his heart clenching with fear. What if she didn't return? What if she didn't want anything more to do with him now that there was a possibility that he might be a father to another woman's son?

`No.' Inuyasha banished the negative thoughts from his mind. `I have to think positive here.' Kagome wouldn't just up and leave him out of the blue because of this little obstacle.' They had been through far much worse and their love had become stronger because of it. This was only another hurdle that they would certainly overcome. `She'll come back. We love each other too much to let it all be thrown away by some complication.'

The irritating voice in the back of his mind that failed to agree with this assessment laughed at him.

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End.

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AN: Hopefully, I'll get the next chapter out before I ship out for college in a couple of weeks. Well, cheerio until next time chaps. Lots of love!

Jade Catseye