Trinity Blood Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Shadows of Time ❯ Chapter 23

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Title: The Shadows of Time

Author: Ryukotsusei

Fandom: Inuyasha and Trinity Blood

Rating: NC 17

Warnings: Violence, torture, language, lemons, spoilers for the entire series just to be safe, and the possibility of out of character characterizations. Read at your own risk.

Pairings: Tres Iqus x Kagome Higurashi x Abel Nightroad

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Trinity Blood. The series belong to Rumiko Takahashi, and the late Sunao Yoshido. I make no money off of this fan fiction.

Author's Note: I know this chapter has been a long time coming. I'd gotten the idea of expanding the story to help resolve some of the issues with Tres but unfortunately, I just haven't had the time to do so. Nor do things look to be calming down anytime soon, so rather than making you wait any longer for the next chapter, I'm just going to post it. Once things calm down here and I have the chance, I'll take the time and expand it, revising the ending so that there's not so much that's left unresolved. Thank you for your patience.

Chapter Twenty three

To everyone's surprise, Kagome had passed the three week mark two days before and had yet to show any signs that she was going into labor. For the first few days, Kagome's condition had given Abel fits because in spite of it all, she was having a hard time keeping food down. The answer had came so suddenly that he found himself wanting to beat his head against the nearest wall and then kick Tres in the ass for not having thought of it either.

It had been rather simple in the end, even if it had taken some fine acting on Inuyasha's part. Now that the future had been altered, they had a resource in Kagome, or rather, the Kagome who was in the future. Of course she couldn't know about what had happened to herself, but she knew how frequently the villagers were becoming pregnant and how problematic it could be.

The suggestion had been put forth that they inform the future miko that Sango was pregnant and having difficulties, but it had been nixed quickly, seeing that she'd want to return to help if she could. No one knew whether or not the girl would be able to pass through, seeing that she was already here, if that made any sense. So it was decided that it was best to use a faceless name and have the hanyou ask her for help.

Inuyasha had gone willingly enough, even if he'd been grumbling the entire time. Iron pills were easy enough to come by and could be purchased in any store, however the anti nausea medication that was safe for a pregnant woman to use was far more difficult to come by and couldn't be obtained without a prescription.

To this day, Abel wasn't sure how Inuyasha had managed to convince the Kagome of the future not only to make an appointment for herself at an obstetrician's office, but to sneak a vial of urine in with her to provide a positive pregnancy test. Somehow, he wasn't sure that he wanted to know either. 'It was dumb luck that they didn't demand a blood test in addition to everything else. I can't imagine how they explained it to her mother either, but at least it worked.'

And for that, Abel was eternally grateful. The Diclectin worked like a charm and stopped the girl's vomiting almost completely which allowed her to begin eating normally again. While she wasn't back to normal and wouldn't be for a few months after the delivery, she was in far better condition than she'd been when he'd first come back.

'So why the sudden relapse now?' Anxiously he stared down at the woman who was looking at the plate of food he'd brought like it was the most disgusting thing in the world. “Kagome,” he said patiently, “You need to eat.”

“I can't,” Kagome stated flatly and shook her head, “please take it away.” While she wasn't exactly feeling ill, she just knew that if she ate it, the food was going to make a reappearance. It had happened at lunch time earlier and she just knew that it was going to happen again. Sighing heavily, she shifted uncomfortably in order to take some of the pressure off her back. If she thought it would do any good to ask either Tres or Abel to rub it, she would have, but nothing was helping. Not even the hot rice packs that Kaede had prepared were making a difference anymore.

Reluctantly Abel set the plate down again and watched her fidget for what seemed to be the tenth time in as many seconds. “This is probably a stupid question, but are you uncomfortable? Do you need another pillow or something?”

“Maybe that would help,” Kagome replied with a grimace and tried to pull herself forward. The added padding was set behind her quickly by Tres before he resumed his place at her side. To her surprise, the two men seemed to be getting along rather well, even if they weren't nearly as talkative as they had been in the past.

For his part, Tres was watching the two of them carefully and when Father Nightroad began looking out the window with a calculating expression on his face, he had to know. “What are you thinking, Father Nightroad?”

“I was checking to see what time it was,” Abel replied quietly and stared at the sun that was beginning to set. Perhaps it was just a coincidence that Kagome was getting uncomfortable as night was beginning to fall, but he didn't think so.

Immediately Kagome looked at him suspiciously, “Why would that matter?” It wasn't like either one of them could share the futon with her anymore. Over the past two days she'd been far too uncomfortable and with the guys trying to sandwich her it had been impossible to sleep. Ultimately she'd kicked them out of the bed and they'd ended up staring at each other wearily though the night.

“Just a suspicion I have,” Abel replied quietly and then looked at Tres, “Would you mind finding Kaede for me please?” While he could have gotten up and done it himself, he wanted to observe Kagome a bit more before saying anything to her. Now he wished that he had a watch so he could see just how often she did a major shift in position.

“Positive,” Tres replied and stood up. Now he was certain that something was up and if Kaede was needed, he had a good idea what it was. He just hoped that the old woman wouldn't be hard to find.'Retrieving Sango might be helpful as well. Kagome will need them both.'

“Mind telling me why you sent Tres off? If you're thinking the baby's coming, I don't think so. I'm not having contractions, my back is just beginning to hurt,” Kagome said uneasily, but the Crusnik didn't look convinced in the least. 'Beginning to hurt is a bit of an understatement. This kid needs to pull his foot out of my back now before he ends up grounded for the rest of his life.'

“I wouldn't be so sure about that,” Father Nightroad muttered and then moved to her side, “sit up for a second.” When she did so, he placed his hand on her lower back and began to rub it slowly. “Let me guess, it's down here, right?”

Kagome eyed the man suspiciously, “Yeah, it is. How'd you know that?” When he'd been rubbing her back the day before, the sore spot had been considerably higher than it was now. This time the pain started just above her tail bone and then radiated up from there.

“Back labor, I suspect,” Abel said matter of factly. The books that Inuyasha had brought back with him had done wonders for his knowledge and he'd gotten further into them than Kagome had since she still spent quite a bit of time sleeping. The setting sun combined with the location of Kagome's discomfort led him to believe that his suspicions were correct.

Kagome groaned upon hearing that. It would figure that the one of the chapters she hadn't gotten to yet, but she remembered hearing her mother say that Souta's birth had been especially painful for that reason. “Great, does this mean that I'm going to finally be able to see my feet again in the next couple of days?”

“Before then most likely. I suspect the child will be born sometime tonight or in the early morning, before the sun rises,” he said and continued to work on her back. She seemed to be slightly more comfortable when he did that, even though he did notice the periodic tensing of her muscles.'She probably wasn't expecting it to start there, so she's been assuming they were false contractions. We'll know more for sure when Kaede gets here.'

“Don't tell me that you think this kids going to have an aversion to sunlight,” Kagome muttered and looked out through the window. At one point Kaede had mentioned that women tended to give birth during the night, but she'd brushed that off without a second thought. After all, hadn't her own mother told her that she'd been born during the day?

“Aversion? No, but you saw the clouds building earlier in the day. A storm is coming and the drop in pressure can trigger labor in some women,” Abel replied easily and fell silent to count out the minutes between the next contraction. At least Kagome was content to let him do as he wished, which helped the situation. As the silence stretched out between them, he realized they were still looking at several hours to go most likely. “They're approximately seven minutes apart, so it will be a while. You should try to rest while you can.”

“You must be kidding,” Kagome said with a disbelieving look. 'How in the hell am I supposed to get comfortable enough to rest? It's impossible.' Yet still she tried and with a bit of assistance, she managed to roll onto her other side, just in time for Kaede to walk in the door. Both Tres and Sango were hot on her heels, making Kagome shake her head. 'Great, I'm going to have an audience. Now all we need is Inuyasha, Shippo and Miroku.'

“Both of ye need to go wait outside,” Kaede ordered sternly while she knelt down at the miko's side. It had been no surprise to her when the redhead had come to fetch her. She'd been expecting Kagome to go into labor any day and had purposefully kept herself close to the hut, just in case.

For a moment Kagome thought about protesting their removal, but one look at Kaede's face had her falling silent. Clearly the woman didn't believe that the men should be in the room and she was going to run into problems each time she was checked for her progress. It was best to save her strength for now and wait for the argument that would come when it was closer for the child to be delivered.

Carefully Kaede monitored her rate of breathing, as well as checked her heart rate while waiting for the men to take themselves outside. Only once the room was clear did she urge the young miko to change positions, “Lay on thine back child, I need to check the baby's position.”

“I knew you were going to say that,” Kagome replied and rolled over, distinctly feeling like she was a rare form of beached whale as she did so. Obediently she pulled the hem of her shirt up so that Kaede could feel for the child's position, but she knew that wasn't going to be the extent of her embarrassment. Only a few moments later, her skirt and underwear were removed and she stared up at the ceiling as the older miko poked and prodded until she was satisfied with what she'd found. “Lemme guess, he's ready to come out.”

Kaede chuckled and dipped her hands in a bowl of cool water, “Nay, child, not yet. But he's getting there. I'd say before the moon sets. Ye should have told us that he was coming earlier.”

“I didn't know he was,” Kagome replied and pulled the sheet up over her lower half. “When can the guys come back in?”

Kaede looked at the girl's anxious face and sighed, “Men have no need to be around during the birth of a child, Kagome.” The very idea was unthinkable and she'd never known a man that wanted to be present in the first place. It was a painful and messy affair, one that they usually wanted no part of.

“Things are different where we come from, Kaede. Please, at least let Abel back in. We don't know if he's going to be needed or not anyway,” Kagome asked. While she knew that she'd have both Sango and Kaede there for whatever she needed, she'd feel a hell of a lot better with at least one of the guys there. Especially if this was going to be as painful as she feared it would.

Although she didn't like the idea, Kaede had to admit that the girl had a point. Even though she'd helped to birth many children in her lifetime, she'd never attempted one like what Kagome was carrying. Yet she knew that to bring one in, but not the other was only going to cause a conflict between the two men. It was an all or nothing deal. It was one last look at Kagome's face that made her decision. “Fine, I'll allow it for that reason.”

“Thank you, Kaede,” Kagome replied as the older woman got up and went to retrieve the two men. She'd been surprised that her friend had caved so easily, or that Sango hadn't objected to the idea. But perhaps being a demon slayer, she knew that births involving demons and therefore Crusniks, could bring about more complications.

In fact, that's exactly what Sango was pondering when Abel came back into the room. Most of the time, the offspring of a demon and a human looked to be mostly human. But in some cases like with Jinenji, the deformities were so great that they rarely survived. This was one instance that she devoutly hoped that would not be the case.

“Looks like we're in for a long wait now,” Abel said upon returning, and took his normal spot at Kagome side while Tres took the opposite. It surprised him really that Tres wanted to be in here in the first place, he'd half expected the man to decline the invitation back inside. 'He's probably curious as to what will happen. I must admit that I am as well, even though I know what to expect.'

“Aye, that we are. However ye have the easy time of it, it is Kagome that must do all the work this time,” Kaede replied and set about preparing a tea that would help to ease the discomfort Kagome was in. Although she still disapproved of the fact that males were in the room, she had to admit she was almost looking forward to seeing their reactions. Even though men were the stronger sex, fierce and protective when the need arose, she couldn't help but laugh at the idea of a man being able to handle witnessing a birth. Most likely, they would end up making their excuses once the real pain started, but in the meantime, she'd watch and wait.

And wait she did, for the next nine hours. The contractions were getting progressively stronger and Kagome had reached the point that she could no longer bear her pain in silence. The tea now did little to help her discomfort, but it was just as well seeing as liquids given at this stage were likely to make the girl sick.

To her surprise though, the men were being rather stoic about the whole thing, even though it was their woman who was going through enough pain that would make a male believe they were dying. Sweat dotted the girl's brow and plastered her hair to the sides of her face, in spite of the repeated attempts to wipe it away.

“Another one's starting,” Kagome moaned and gripped both Tres and Abel's hands tightly. Right now they were a constant lifeline, keeping her grounded when she felt like she'd never get through the next agonizing pain. On one occasion she was sure that she'd heard a bone pop in Tres' hand, but if it had, the man hadn't made a sound. Instead they both offered her silent encouragement, even if they both seemed as if they'd rather be somewhere other than where they were at the moment. 'I can't blame them. I'd rather be somewhere else right now. Why did I ever think this would be easy?'

Again Kaede settled herself between the miko's legs and checked to see how dilated she was. “I think it's time,” she proclaimed and moved just enough so that Kagome would be able to switch positions. “Kagome, ye need to get up child,” she encouraged and helped the sooner to be mother into a squatting position. Gravity would be the best aid for her now to get this child born. “Sango, I need ye to help support her.”

“Of course,” Sango replied and moved to the girl's side, effectively pushing Abel out of the way. While she steadied her friend, Kaede knelt in front of the girl and prepared to catch the child as soon as it came out. “Kagome, it's time for you to push.”

“What do you think I'm doing?” Kagome snapped at Sango, even though she tried not to let the words come out too harshly. In this position there was no stopping her body from pushing and it felt as if she was being split in two. “Oh god, it hurts.”

Unable to do anything but hold her hand, Tres tried to offer whatever support that he could even though he'd never felt more helpless in his life. Now that he knew what she had to go through, he wasn't sure that he wanted Kagome to ever have to experience this again. Her cries of pain were nearly unbearable and the agony he felt rippling through the bond tore at him. If this had been an actual enemy doing this to her, he would have killed it without a second thought, but as it was, there was absolutely nothing that he could do. “It will pass soon, Kagome.”

“Fine, then you take over and do all the work,” Kagome said through gritted teeth and waited for the pain to subside. Even though he was right to a certain extent, she knew it was just going to start up again in a matter of minutes. Time never seemed to fly by so fast when she was in the brief resting period between contractions, nor did it ever seem so agonizingly slow while one ripped through her body.

Sango looked uneasily at the miko turned midwife, “Shouldn't she be crowning by now?” While she'd only participated in two births before, they'd all progressed rather quickly. However, that might have been because both women had already birthed multiple children. She just wasn't sure.

“She's doing well, don't worry,” Kaede said quietly, reassuring everyone in the room. A woman's first child usually took longer than the others and she'd been rather surprised that Kagome's labor had progressed as fast as what it had. Given the size of the child versus how small her body was, she'd been anticipating at least twelve hours, perhaps even more.

“It's starting again,” Sango said in warning, giving Kaede ample opportunity to be prepared. Already Kagome was gripping her hand, even if she hadn't said anything yet. The contractions were nearly on top of each other now and one way or another, the miko seemed determined that she was going to push it out now.

“Good, Kagome, keep pushing,” Abel coached from the side, staying close enough to help, but not to interfere. While he couldn't see anything, he knew that she was close by the way that Kaede had placed her hands. In a matter of moments their child would be born, and the first trial would be over.

“Why don't... you just... shut up!” Kagome panted with exertion. While she wasn't normally the one to lay all the blame for a pregnancy on one person, in this instance she felt more than justified. He was far too upbeat for her tastes, especially when he was doing none of the work. 'A few minutes of fun for him, hours of pain for me! I should threaten to break it off and shove it up his ass for him the next time he decides that he wants to have sex with someone!'

“Focus, Kagome,” Kaede warned the girl, getting upset at Abel wasn't going to get rid of the pain that she was in. Only getting the child out would do that for her. Suddenly the head slipped out into her hands, “Only a couple more pushes, Kagome and then it will be over.”

Although her strength was rapidly waning, Kagome reached inside herself and pulled up the last reserves of energy for another push. A pain filled cry escaped her lips when the baby's shoulders slipped free and her vision swam when she felt the child pulled free of her body.

“Lay her down, quickly,” Kaede commanded with the baby in her hands. No sane person would expect the girl to remain on her feet after that and the afterbirth could be easily passed with her laying down. Quickly she grabbed a length of sinew and tied the cord off before cutting it. “The child is a boy,” she stated quietly and began wiping him clean with a soft cloth. Whereas she would normally have forced the child into crying to stimulate breathing, she could tell that wouldn't be necessary. The young one was staring at her almost warily, unlike any other child she'd ever seen.

Abel peered over her shoulder and a slight smile crossed his face. The thin covering of hair on his head was pale and the Crusnik was certain that once cleaned it would be a pale silver like his. A glimmer of recognition seemed to cross the baby's face and although he couldn't articulate what was wanted, Abel knew.

Carefully he reached out and took his son from the old miko's arms and carried him over to Kagome. He could see that she was unbelievably tired, but also anxious to see her child. Slowly he placed the boy in her arms and then pulled back just enough so that he could watch them both.

Kagome knew that both Tres and Abel had knelt beside her, but she stared transfixed at the child in her arms. Whereas most babies didn't seem to be able to focus on an object, he was staring at her quite clearly with bright blue eyes. But that was where the differences with a normal baby ended. His head was quite clearly misshapen from being pushed through her body and his skin was pale with bright splotches on it. At the moment she couldn't say he was beautiful, or even that cute, but he was hers and it all became worth it. “He looks just like you,” she said at last.

Peering closely at the tightly wrapped bundle, Tres squinted trying to see just what Kagome was talking about. With the exception of the silver hair and blue eyes, he could see no resemblance between the two. Perhaps Abel had been this ugly as a child, he couldn't be certain, but the boy's appearance really didn't matter in the end. As long as Kagome was happy with the outcome, he would be as well.

Kaede shook her head slowly, taking note that the woman had been so wrapped up in what was going on that she hadn't even realized she'd expelled the afterbirth. As quietly as possible, she set to collecting it and cleaning the area without disturbing the new family.

“Should I let the others in?” Sango asked curiously. While she didn't want to interrupt their bonding time, the others had to be wondering what was happening by now. Kagome's cries had probably kept half the villagers awake through the night and if she knew Inuyasha, he had probably paced a ditch into the ground out in front of the hut.

“Nay, let them have their time together,” Kaede said and led the slayer outside so that they could share the good news. There would be plenty of time for visiting later, after Kagome had gotten some rest and fed her son for the first time.

~The next day~

While everyone had been anxious to see the new child, they'd known that Kagome had needed her rest and respected that need until she'd awoken the next morning. Then it suddenly seemed to be a race to meet the newest member of the family as the others had wasted no time in invading Kaede's hut.

Inuyasha peered over Kagome's shoulder and looked at the child with an expression that could have been identical to the one Tres wore the night before. “So what'd you name him?” he asked at last and raised an eyebrow when the child narrowed his eyes at him. Already he could see that this one was going to be a handful. He just hoped that Kagome was ready for it.

“Daichi,” Kagome replied after casting a grateful look to Abel. The man had wanted to name the child after one of his close friends he'd left behind, but realized that it would make the boy stand out even more than he was already going to. While she would have agreed to naming him William if he'd pressed the issue, she was glad that he had agreed on a traditional Japanese name.

“Great first son, huh?” Inuyasha pondered before nodding, “It fits him. But does this mean there's going to be more than one?” Somehow it wouldn't surprise him if Kagome wanted an entire houseful, he just hoped she'd spread them out some. If she didn't, he wasn't sticking around for the birth of the second one. She'd nearly given him a heart attack the first time she'd really screamed and he'd thought she was dying.

Kagome chuckled slightly and ran a finger down her son's cheek, “Maybe one of these days. Not right away though, one's more than enough.” She gave Kaede a knowing look. They'd already discussed this and the old woman had made her promise to let her know if she ran low on the ingredients for the tea again. There wasn't going to be anymore surprises, not if she could help it. They needed to get settled before they could even think of giving Daichi another brother or a little sister.

“Have you figured out what he is exactly?” Miroku asked and moved to get a better look at the child. He could sense an unusual energy coming off of the boy, but it was so similar to Abel's that he was almost certain that the child had taken after his father. However, without knowing if all Crusnik felt like Abel did, he'd have to rely on Nightroad's judgment for the correct answer.

Remembering the hell that both Inuyasha and Tres had put him through, Abel smirked slightly. “There's one way to find out,” he replied and beaconed them both closer, “hold out your hands to him.”

“What are you...” Kagome stared at him in horror when she realized what was going to happen. It came as no surprise when Daichi's face scrunched up in annoyance and he promptly bit Inuyasha's finger as soon as it came near him.

“You little runt,” Inuyasha groused and pulled his finger back, “It's a good thing you don't have teeth yet. I ain't food dammit!” His half hearted glare turned into a full one when he looked at Nightroad, whose smirk had widened. “You knew he was going to do that, didn't you, you bastard.”

“Inuyasha, watch your mouth,” Kagome snapped and glared daggers at the two of them. She'd already had this discussion with both Abel and Tres the night before when the Crusnik had come to the conclusion that somehow the nanomachine's had passed on to their son. “You could have just told him, you know.”

Even Tres chuckled at the way the hanyou's glare intensified. He'd been waiting for it as well, since the baby had no interest in chewing on him whatsoever. It was probably for the best that it had worked out that way, he really hadn't relished the prospect of the boy trying out his fangs on Kagome once they came in. “I believe, that is what he would call retribution, Inuyasha.”

“Retribution? I'll show you two retribution when I drag your asses outside to beat them,” Inuyasha said with a growl and then flattened his ears when he noticed the way Kagome was staring at him with a look that could kill. He knew he wasn't going to get that many more freebies when it came to his mouth, especially since Kagome's patience was in short supply.

“That's enough, the three of you get out. Go... work off some of that energy before you come back in here,” Kagome snapped when she felt Daichi begin to squirm. While he wasn't fussing yet, he was definitely making his displeasure known and she didn't want him to start crying.

“Hey, what'd I do?” Abel protested weakly as Sango helped to shove him out the door, “It was all in good fun. Hey! Kagome!!”

Kagome sighed and shook her head once the other two had followed him. Even now she could hear the Crusnik protested the harsh treatment, never mind that he'd started the entire thing in the first place. Wearily she looked down at Daichi and sighed again, “Let this be a lesson to you, don't take after your father. It'll get you in trouble.”

Bright blue eyes blinked at her slowly and he gave what sounded to be an amused gurgle. A feeling of dread settled over Kagome and she knew that what she'd been hoping for was a lost cause. 'Dear God, what have I gotten myself into?'