InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Decisions ❯ Chapter 15

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

Decisions

Author's Note: SO SORRY!!! I didn't realize that I had just posted Chapter 14 twice in the place of fifteen. Well, here it is and I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho or any characters associated with either show. Let's put it this way: If the characters, situations, or storylines are recognizable, then I don't own them. I own the particular plot of this story and a few characters that I will make up later, but that is it. At least, I think it is.

Author's Note: You know, I think that I may be experiencing my first case of writer's block. Well, I don't think that it's actually that; I'm just at a loss as to what to write next. I know that I could write about what happens in later chapters, but I can't figure out what to write to get there. It's very frustrating because I really want to write about certain things, but this story does change slightly as I write it, so I can't really write the scenes that I really want to yet. I hate it when this happens. It's like a road map. I know where I am and where I'm going, but I haven't a clue as to how to get there. I never was any good at reading those things, not that I have any interest in learning to anyway. (Never mind. I solved the problem by moving up events that I wanted to write about and just skimming over the time in between this chapter and the last, just as you read in the author's note at the end of the last chapter. Yay for me!)

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Chapter Fifteen

---Four Months Later---

Miroku's and Sango's wedding was beautiful. Miroku looked nervous as hell, but happy until there was a delay in Sango coming down the aisle. Then he started to look scared. What if she came to her senses and decided not to marry me? Even though he asked every woman he met to bare his child, after he met Sango, the only reason he even paid attention to other women was to make her jealous. He loved to make her mad. She was so beautiful with her eyes sparkling and her cheeks flushed with anger or embarrassment. Her breasts would heave and it was all he could do to restrain himself to just stroking her butt. He loved her so much and was looking forward to being married to her. IF she would ever come down the damn aisle!

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---With Sango---

“Oh Kagome, what if we get married and he realizes that he didn't love me after all?! What if he sees some other pretty girl and decides that he would rather have her bare his children? I love him so much, I don't think that I could stand it if he decided that he doesn't love me anymore!” cried a hysterical Sango, beautiful in her simple white wedding gown. “What if I'm no good at sex? What if I hate it? Oh Kagome, what am I going to do?” Sango flung herself face down on the bed and started sobbing.

Kagome smiled and went to calm her friend. “Sango, Miroku loves you. That just doesn't go away like that.” Kagome snaps her fingers. “Have you noticed that ever since you agreed to marry him, he hasn't even looked at another girl, much less tried to fell one up? I've been watching and I know that he hasn't. Miroku may always be a pervert, but he is a good, loyal man. He would never intentionally hurt you like that. As for being bad at sex, don't they say that `practice makes perfect'? It is also good for making babies, which I know that both you and Miroku desperately want. Also, I know for a fact that Miroku is just as much a virgin as you are.”

Sango looked at Kagome in astonishment. “How do you know that?”

Kagome laughed. “Miroku had too much sake one night. Remember when we met up with that daimyo—the one who was so intent on marrying you—again? Anyway, he started making drunken confessions. Everyone else was asleep, but I couldn't seem to so I just sat there watching him drink and soaking up all the juicy blackmail material that he was so willing to spill. Did you know that when he was little, his mother dressed him in pink dresses because she wanted a girl? She didn't want a boy that would go running off and leave her in order to fight Naraku. He wore pink dresses up until he was about three. Everyone thought that he was a girl until he started protesting so much and taking off all his clothes in front of everyone and running around naked. His mom finally gave in and realized that Miroku wasn't going to turn into a girl just by dressing him like one. He is still bitter about that…” Kagome couldn't go on. Both girls were laughing so hard that Sango's tears of fear turned into tears of laughter.

They finally stopped laughing when they heard a knock at the door. Kagome went to the door and opened it a crack. There stood Sesshomaru in all his glory looking slightly annoyed, which generally meant that he would like to kill what was causing him displeasure, but knew that if he did that he would have to bring whatever it was he killed back to life with Tenseiga. Kagome had been on the receiving end of that look a lot lately, so she was intimately acquainted with it.

Sesshomaru had gotten tired of waiting, so he took it upon himself to fetch the bride. “What is taking so long? You had better get out here before the monk starts hyperventilating.” With that he turned to leave.

Both Kagome and Sango looked at the big clock leaning up against the wall and screamed, “Oh my GOD! We are so late!” They hurriedly dried their tears and tried to restore some sort of order to their appearances.

When they were ready, Kagome headed for the aisle. She did the traditional maid of honor thing—with the exception of holding Kirara because Sango had wanted her to be in the wedding but she didn't have a train so Kirara couldn't hold that as she had intended—and waited for Sango to walk down the aisle to her future husband.

Sango appeared and everyone drew in a breath. Her cheeks were full of color and her eyes were still sparkling from her earlier tears, but now they were full of love and happiness. When she saw Miroku looking so relieved to see her, she felt all her fears melt away. She was doing the right thing. Miroku was her future and her soul mate. She wouldn't let anything tear them apart!

Miroku finally started to breathe again when he saw a flash of white from the end of the aisle. He turned to look at his bride and found that he had somehow lost the ability to breathe again. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life. He could not believe that in a few minutes she would be his for the rest of their lives. His heart felt like it would burst from his chest as she joined him in front of Kaede and Mushin and took both of his hands in hers, paying special attention to the one that used to hold his wind tunnel.

They said their vows with such feeling that everyone in hearing distance was touched, even the great Lord Sesshomaru. Many sniffles could be heard throughout the room, and someone was openly bawling from outside the door. It seemed that Sesshomaru's servants found the couple's happiness moving too.

When it came time to kiss the bride, Miroku pulled Sango into his arms and gave her a long, very deep, and impossibly tender kiss. As the kiss was drawing to an end, Sango's eyes suddenly shot open. She pushed Miroku away and yelled “Pervert!” and slapped him so hard across the face that he fell to the floor with stars in his eyes.

Sango was breathing really heavily and then she realized what she had done and was horribly embarrassed. All their friends were trying not to laugh and failing miserably, except for Sesshomaru, who was just smirking. Sango helped Miroku up and apologized. “I'm sorry Miroku, its just habit. Anyway, you shouldn't grope me in public.” Sango thought about it a minute and got angry all over again. “I take it back. I'm not sorry and if you do it again I will slap you into oblivion!” With that, Sango picked up her skirts and strode down the aisle, Miroku chasing her and begging her to forgive him his cursed hands and not be angry on their wedding day of all days. As they left, everyone in the room lost control of their laughter and started to laugh hysterically.

“Meow.”

I second that. He should know better by now. Niiku said in mildly, now used to the couple's antics.

Kagome looked down at Kirara and Niiku and then at after the retreating couple and shook her head. “Some things will never change.” Her smile was bittersweet as she followed them out of the room and into the dining room where the reception would take place. And I hope they never will.

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The party was winding down. The bride and groom had already left. Sesshomaru had provided them with an entire wing of the palace to themselves.

Kagome looked across the huge dining room. The table had been pushed against the wall and was layered with food, buffet-style. She had had to fight Sesshomaru to keep him from going the route of a long formal dinner. Kagome had found out earlier that the dining room also doubled as the ballroom. It was certainly big enough to. She looked up at the ceiling for about the hundredth time. Somehow someone had painted an exact replica of the night sky and all the constellations were perfect. The stars and full moon seemed to glow, even in the bright light. She was going to miss how beautiful the stars were in this time. In her time, the stars never seemed as beautiful.

“Miko, you will be leaving for your time soon?” Sesshomaru had come up behind her as she was staring at the ceiling.

“Sess, I thought we were past the `Miko'. You know my name is Kagome. Now that you and Inuyasha have come to a truce and you are helping to train me before I leave, I thought you could bring yourself to address me by my name. At least you got over that whole talking-about-yourself-in-the-third-person thing. That really got on my nerves. Thank goodness Rin followed your lead in that.”

Sesshomaru shot her a look that said that he knew she was nuttier than a loon and said, “Okay…Kagome…answer my question.”

Kagome thought for a moment. “I had to promise Sango that I would stay until their first child was born so that I could be there for her. She wouldn't agree to have the wedding this soon unless I agreed. Miroku begged me too, saying that life was too short and `Who knows, I may be attacked by youkai and die anytime.' And to be honest, I really want to see their child born. I have the feeling that it is important that I be there. I know that I was selfish for delaying in making my wishes for this long, but I really want to put off saying goodbye as long as I can.”

“Why is that selfish? You will be giving your friends time to accept the fact that they will probably never see you again. And although it pains me to say this to a human, I consider you my friend and will miss you also.” Sesshomaru gave her a rare smile that looked like it was giving him great pain, but it was still a smile. Kagome would have never thought that she would live to see the Great Lord Sesshomaru smile at any human other than Rin (unless he was in the process of killing them), but, no matter how much it galled him to do it, he had admitted that he cared about her and had even smiled at her!

Kagome was so caught up in boggling over the smile and him saying that she, a HUMAN, was considered a friend that she totally forgot what they were talking about until Sesshomaru reminded her. “You will see when I make my wishes why delaying them was selfish. And I will miss you too Sesshomaru. You are like the annoying, slave-driving older brother that I'm glad I never had.” Kagome couldn't resist teasing him about all the training that he had put her through. It had been worth it though. After finding out that she could channel her miko energy into other weapons besides arrows and Guardian, even into her fists and feet, the training with Sesshomaru had increased even more than when they started. It didn't make her pass out like it did before she had gotten Kikyo's portion of her soul back. Even Kikyo was surprised at the depth of their power and at the speed that they seemed to be improving. The only explanation was that her soul was remembering things that it had already learned in past lives and was transmitting the knowledge to her body. With as many lifetimes as she has had it was really not surprising how she was improving when she really thought about it. She had some of the most powerful youkai of that time inside of her now also; it was only natural that she notice some differences. Not to mention that she was also remembering youkai fighting moves and trying to deal with the enhanced youkai senses. She was having the most trouble with that. She couldn't seem to be able to deal with such strong senses and learn how to mute them so that she could function normally. But she was coming along.

They had started out with hand-to-hand combat before Sesshomaru would even let her draw a sword in training, which was how she learned to transmit her energy into her fists, quite by accident seeing as how Kikyo hadn't gotten past the herbs and spells yet, even with not getting more than one true good night's sleep a month. Sesshomaru was about to kill her for the first time when it happened. He got a really big burn where his left arm would have been. He quickly brought her back with the Tenseiga (the first of many times as Sesshomaru refuses to hold back and also because he wants her to up her pain tolerance). Kagome had been horrified by what had happened and had quickly healed him. A side effect of the healing was the regrowth of Sesshomaru's left arm. After that, they decided that while practicing together would benefit both of them (Kagome by improving both her attacks and her healing abilities and Sesshomaru by increasing his already extremely high tolerance of purification), they would go on numerous youkai slaying expeditions to hone her attacks to a greater level, as she was kind of afraid to use all of her powers against Sesshomaru out of fear that she would accidentally kill him. Plus, she wasn't all that sure that anyone other than Sesshomaru could use Tenseiga, so it was iffy if anyone could bring him back. Once she was proficient in hand-to-hand combat, they had moved onto other weapons. She learned how to defend and attack using a variety of other weapons before she was even allowed to use her sword. Sesshomaru had never explained why but it was speculated by some of Sesshomaru's generals (all of whom Kagome had met and who loved to give her pointers) that he wanted her to improve her agility and strength with the heavier weapons before going onto the sword training so that she could give him a half-way decent workout when they got to them. Kagome knew that they were wrong though. She just knew that he was doing it to torture her because he knew how much she wanted to learn how to use Guardian again and see how it felt in combat when she knew what she was doing, even if it was only training. She knew this because, when he finally began instructing her, she was further tortured by only being allowed to use a wooden sword, filled with lead to increase the weight, for a whole month before he allowed her to draw Guardian. It felt just as she anticipated. That is when the training really began. If she had thought that Sesshomaru was tough with just one arm, she thought that he was pretty much invincible with both of his arms. They practiced all day, only stopping for a short lunch, everyday from five in the morning until seven at night. She hadn't been able to beat him yet, but had just gotten to the point where it was a draw at the end of the day. She would always love her bow because it was her first weapon and few could match her in archery, but she loved the way her sword felt in her hand. It was more convenient for defensive and close fighting, too. Sesshomaru actually started to open up to her after a while and, though he was puzzled by it, he couldn't seem to stop it, so he just finally accepted it. They were as close as brother and sister, closer than him and Inuyasha would ever be, because Inuyasha was Inuyasha and thus very annoying to the mostly quiet and dignified youkai lord. Rin had taken to following Kagome around everywhere she went when she wasn't training (which admittedly wasn't very often) and mimicking her every gesture. Kagome loved the little munchkin that looked so much like her. Rin had even started calling her “Mama” like Shippo. Kagome worried about the little one. When she left, Rin would be losing her mother figure and her playmate, Shippo, but she didn't see any way around it.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by a knock on the head. “Owwwwwwwwwwwwe…WHAT WAS THAT FOR YOU IDIOT!”

“You would not answer when I called your name numerous times. It seemed an appropriate way to get your attention.”

“Sesshomaru, sometimes I just want to `sit' you like I do Inuyasha!” Kagome mumbled angrily and started pouting. Maybe I should fix him a rosary. No, I doubt that it would work.

Sesshomaru looked at her, amused. She looked just like Rin when she did not get her way. That brought to mind the matters that he wanted to discuss with her…but no. He would wait until a more appropriate time, such as when she was so tired from her training that she would not be able to argue and maybe refuse. “Go change and meet me in the training yard in fifteen minutes. You got the day off from training for the wedding and I don't want you to get soft.”

“But what about Inuyasha?” He always joined to watch their training sessions because, although he would never admit it, he knows that he could learn a lot from his older brother. “I want you to promise me that you will train him when I'm gone. He knows that he could learn a lot from you, and I think that you need someone to beat up on a daily basis.”

Sesshomaru looked aggravated with her for a moment and then sighed. “I promise.” Although, like Inuyasha, he would never admit it, he also cared about his annoying little half brother. He was the only blood family that he had left and that counted for a lot. “Inuyasha is in the corner moaning because he ate too much food. Disgraceful. There is no way that he could move right now, much less make it to the training yard to watch us. Now, go change.” With that he left and Kagome smiled after him and went to do as he ordered. She may be argumentative at times but she isn't stupid. If she took one minute longer than he had given her, he would drag her out to train in whatever she had on at the time. She learned that the hard way when she went to bed and got dragged to the training yard in her nightgown. Now, THAT had been a miserable four hours…

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After eight hours of hard training, Kagome was gasping for breath and Sesshomaru was slightly winded. The sun would be up in about an hour or two. Niiku had taken up residence next to the castle wall and had watched their fight with interest, occasionally twitching his tails in annoyance and growling when his mistress made a mistake and Sesshomaru got in a good hit. Kagome collapsed beside him and Sesshomaru sat beside her, lost in his thoughts, while Kagome was just concentrating on breathing.

“I want you to take Rin with you to your era.” Sesshomaru suddenly said, stunning Kagome.

When she could speak again she said, “First of all, I don't know if I even can. Second, and most important of all…ARE YOU CRAZY! You love that little girl and she loves you! She keeps you from becoming a heartless tyrant, Sesshomaru. What would happen if you didn't have her?”

Sesshomaru was quiet for a moment. “I'm asking this of you because it is in her best interest. With me, she would grow old and die surrounded by youkai. She wouldn't have any chance at finding a mate or having pups. It would be lonely for her and she may grow to resent not having human contact.”

“Miroku and Sango are planning to live close by. They could teach her about humans and take her to other villages to meet boys her age.”

“What boy do you think will stand up to me and ask for her hand? Few, if any, would have the courage to do so and I doubt that I would find anyone I approve of anyway. But that is not my only reason. This world is dangerous and I have many enemies. Like Naraku they would use her to get to me. You are the only one that I trust to take care of her in my stead.”

Kagome was touched, speechless, and slightly annoyed. How could she deny the man who had taught her so much and was like a brother to her? He trusted her with what he treasured the most; how could she deny him when he put it like that? He had made it impossible for her to refuse, not that she didn't want the little girl. It was just that she didn't want to separate the two of them. “Okay, I will take her with me IF Midoriko says that is alright. But I have some favors that I would like for you to do as well after I leave that I will tell you about before I make my wishes.”

Sesshomaru nodded and went into the castle. It was a testament to how much he trusted her that he didn't order her to tell him what she meant right then.

Kagome sat under the stars and thought about how she was going to manage school, guarding the jewel, and raising two rambunctious children, all at the same time. Not to mention dealing with the congregation in her head. She was sure that Midoriko was going to be just as demanding as Kikyo and Sesshomaru both in regards to training and expanding her miko and physical abilities. She sighed, Well, the only thing to do is suck it up and deal. Mom will help with the kids, there aren't many youkai in my time that would come after the jewel not that they could get it since it will be inside my body, and as for school…She shrugged. Maybe I got kicked out for too many absences. I could learn better on my own anyway.

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---After a few hours of sleep---

Kagome was getting ready to leave for her week at home. As Sango and Miroku probably weren't going to emerge from their suite anytime soon, she didn't feel the need to stick around. It was time for her scheduled trip home anyways. Last time Sesshomaru had grumbled, but gave in grudgingly when she pointed out that he could use the time to catch up on his paperwork, although he seemed to be angrier after she pointed that out. She had a sneaking suspicion that he used training her as an excuse not to do paperwork in the first place and was mad at her for pointing out that he was getting behind.

She thought back to the last time she had been home and her mother's comment about finding her a tutor to help keep her from getting too behind in her studies. She groaned. That was all she needed. Some snot nosed nerd trying to look down her shirt while trying to teach her what to do with that Quadratic math thing (A/N: I have been out of math for a few years and out of basic math for a lot longer so I can't remember much. I just pulled the first thing that I could think of out of my mind). Not that she had anything against nerds in general. She actually admired their dedication to their education. She just disliked with a passion the ones that tried to look up her skirt or down her blouse, and then made some creepy comment about showing her his bug collection sometime in his room; supposedly they thought that that would be an incentive to accept. Sure she had planned to use her time at home to study, but a tutor?! What would they think of a student that could only be tutored for a week every two months? Nerds were smart. They would not believe it when Grandpa made up his horrible illnesses to excuse her. Who gets sick for weeks and then has a miraculous recovery for exactly a week, with no signs of ever being ill at all? It was risky.

We could always make them think that it wasn't unusual with a spell. It's kind of like a barrier to make people steer clear of something by remembering something that they forgot to do. Every time that he or she starts to think about how strange it is, his mind will drift to something else and lose his train of thought.

Kagome thought that over for a moment as she packed. I really don't like the idea of messing with anyone's mind, but if it comes to that we have no choice. She shrugged her backpack on her shoulders and headed to Sesshomaru's study to tell him that she was leaving before going to find Inuyasha. He would escort her to the well, mostly because he didn't have anything to do, but also to protect her. He couldn't get into his head that she could take care of herself, probably better than he could. But she really didn't mind. It was nice to have these moments by themselves, like when they were first starting out with their search for the jewel shards. They didn't have too many of them now what with her training. But it was comforting to have him just watch her and Sesshomaru training. Just his presence made her feel secure. She wanted to stay here but it wasn't meant to be. Plus, she couldn't just leave her family and friends, as annoying as some of them were sometimes. They could never be as close to her as her friends in this time were, although Yusuke and Keiko came close (A/N: Ha Ha. Just in case you missed it, Yusuke was the one that she was talking on the phone with about Keiko.) It was pretty tough to beat the closeness developed when people spend every moment of just about every day with each other, sharing numerous near-death experiences.

Inuyasha came to a grinding halt. “We're here.”

Kagome looked around. “Already? Inuyasha, you must have gotten faster since the last time.”

Inuyasha puffed up his chest proudly. “You haven't been the only one training. I have been helping petrol the Western Land's borders.”

Kagome smiled indulgently. “I'm proud of you. You should hurry up and get back. The sun is going to set in a couple of hours. You don't want to be stuck out alone in your human form.”

Inuyasha folded his arms against his chest. “Feh. I did it before you and the rest of the guys were in the picture, I can do it again.”

“Nonetheless, just hurry. For my piece of mind?”

“Feh.” His version of an agreement. “Bye Kagome. One week. Don't be late or Mr. I-Am-Lord-And-You-Should-Never-Keep-Me-Waiting-Or-I-Will-Kill-You will be most displeased and take it out on me. Not that I wouldn't relish the chance to kick his ass, but I wouldn't want to damage him and keep him from kicking yours.” With that Inuyasha took off in the direction of the Western Lands in order to escape the `sit' that he knew was coming.

Kagome watched him escape her wrath with amusement. You're all heart, Inuyasha. Kagome turned back to the well and jumped in to be greeted by the familiar flash of blue light.

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Finally, we're getting to the actual story! Guess who's coming up in the next chapter. I'm not going to tell you, but, if you think long and hard or short and soft, I'm sure that you can figure it out!