InuYasha Fan Fiction / Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Yuki No Furu Mae Ni (Before Snowfall) ❯ A Tale Begun ( Chapter 2 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Part 2 - A Tale Begun

The fire crackled merrily, despite the three somber faces seated cross-legged before it. Kenshin waited for the two to begin their story. The boy Masao was sleeping in an upstairs room. Kouga had taken Yuki's body back to the cave; Sesshomaru would bury her the next day. Finally Kouga began to speak, his voice weaving a centuries old tale in the air.
"Long ago a human girl, a hanyou, a kitsune, a houshi, and a taijiya fought against a very powerful demon over the shards of the Shikon Jewel."

Inu Yasha, Mirouku, and Sango crept quietly down the crumbling passageway. Inu Yasha kept trying to pick up Kagome's scent but Naraku's stench was too strong. Finally it was his ears that found her first. She was crying. He raced down the hallway, despite the monk's cry for him to wait. He had to find her; he had to tell her he was sorry for leaving them alone. She was huddled in the corner of a filthy room, as he got closer her could smell blood, Kagome's blood. Her clothes were torn and tattered but otherwise she looked uninjured. She didn't more as he knelt beside her, just stayed as she was, her face buried in her hands. Now he could smell something else, it was.
"Kagome?" he asked in a choked voice. She flinched but did not respond. "Kagome it's me."
"Inu Yasha?" She looked up at him; her eyes were red from crying. "Oh Inu Yasha!"
Kagome threw her arms around his neck and he did not hesitate to return her embrace. "Oh gods Kagome..I'm so sorry."
She didn't say anything, just cried, her face buried in his mane of silky white hair. Inu Yasha held her, rocking slightly. He would never forgive himself for letting that bastard lay his hands on her. Mirouku and Sango were coming into the room. Inu Yasha pushed Kagome away from him so that he could take off his fire rat haori and put it around her shoulders. Then he lifted her and they left Naraku's castle.

"Why did he not just kill Kagome?" Kenshin asked, interrupting Kouga.
"Naraku was not merely a cold blooded killer. He loved to deal pain, yes but some things are more painful than death. He was hoping to drive a wedge between Inu Yasha and Kagome. He was trying to corrupt Kagome's soul so that the shards she still held would become impure."
Kenshin shook his head. This Naraku truly was a monster but what did this have to do with Yuki? He asked Kouga as much. "Let me go on and you will understand."
Kenshin nodded and Kouga continued.

Kagome returned from her time with a serious look. Inu Yasha felt a shiver run through him. It was never good for him when Kagome looked that way; he usually ended up flat on his face with a backache later. He approached her slowly. "Inu Yasha?"
He braced himself. 'Here it comes,' he thought, squeezing his eyes shut a bit so he wouldn't get dirt in them. "I need to talk to you."
"Huh?" He opened one eye, pricking his ears in curiosity. Kagome was walking away from him. She paused, beckoning him to follow. He did so cautiously, following until she stopped and turned to him. "What is it Kagome?"
"Inu Yasha, I'm going to have a baby."
He lowered his head, letting his hair hide his crest fallen face. The hanyou had suspected something like this. Kagome's scent had changed over the last month. Kagome would have to bear his child and it was his fault. She stepped up to him taking his head in her hands, forcing him to look at her. "I've told you many times, what happened was not your fault. I know why you went to Kikyo that night."
He looked her in the eyes, seeing her love for him and feeling his for her. "I want to raise this child, raise it to be better than Naraku."
Inu Yasha nodded, "I will help you. You are her mother, I will be her father."
The look of utter joy on her face gave his heart wings. She hugged him fiercely, and then took a step back. "How do you know it will be a girl?"
He tapped his nose and she started to laugh, a sound he had not heard in a long time.