InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Expectation ❯ Chapter 14

*Author's note - Thanks again to Ithilwen on this chapter. She has earned the right to her own superhero cape for so many reasons, not the least of which being her speed, accuracy, and her hilarious "chocked gurgle" suggestion. Thanks must also be given to my good friend Niamh; for the beta, for the brainstorming, for reading chapters 8-13 in one sitting, and of course, for taking the position as my sworn protector so very long ago. Thanks for helping me get this out in time for Christmas, guys. Happy Holidays! -Nanda

Part 14

On the very edge of the village settlement, near the boundary of Inuyasha's forest, the miko Kaede worked on her knees, gathering herbs for her medicinal kit. Not far from her, Kagome sat in silent contemplation. They had come here together because, allegedly, the pregnant young miko was supposed to assist with the gathering. It was one of the few jobs left that she could actually do in her present condition. She was often too tired and irritable to play with the village children, and Inuyasha wouldn't allow her to go within spitting distance of the sick. Tending the garden, making poultices and gathering herbs fell to the girl by way of default, though in all actuality, sitting quietly lost in thought was about all that she was good for most mornings.

Kaede was hardly a novice to the plights of expectant young mothers. She'd assumed the role of midwife enough times in her long years to know as much as anyone could ever know about the subject, even if she had never experienced it firsthand. She knew about the severe nightmares, and even if she hadn't, she shared a small hut with the child. She had heard the soft whimpers in the night. Compound upon that the general fatigue that comes with carrying a sudden excess of weight, and it was no wonder that the girl sat idle. She was probably exhausted.

In fact, compound that exhaustion with a belligerent, overprotective father, worries for future safety, and the small matter of an unfinished quest hanging over her head, and the finally tally was astronomical. Knowing this, who could begrudge the child her desire to sit quietly and do nothing?

Kaede did all that was in her power to lessen Kagome's burden. For instance, this present opportunity. She had devised a way to allow Kagome some time away from the hanyou.

Currently, Inuyasha was down in the village. The ox cart of a local merchant had overturned in the street, spilling its wares and knocking out the supports of a nearby porch. Kaede had insisted that Inuyasha offer his assistance. The hanyou had been quite vocal about his indifference to their dilemma, but she had been able to sway him eventually. All it had taken was a sharp reminder of his mate's relative mercy at the hands of the villagers, and the suggestion that having good standing in the community would not be detrimental if they chose to remain. He had finally agreed, though very grudgingly, and the two mikos had taken the opportunity to slip away to the meadow. Kagome had smiled like a fool at the prospect of getting away for an hour or so, and it had made all of Kaede's efforts to get them there unescorted worthwhile. It had pleased the elderly miko to see the girl smile again; she'd done it so infrequently in the last six months.

"Kagome? Did you find any of those mushrooms I was telling you about? The reishi?" Kaede asked as she shook the loose earth from a small cluster of roots. They were attached to a long, yellow-green stem she had pulled from the ground only moments earlier. The miko smiled, gladdened by the pleasant familiarity of her work as she added the plant to her satchel. Having received no answer from the girl, she broke from her routine and looked back over her shoulder. "Kagome? Where is your mind, child?"

"Huh?" Kagome started, turning her head to stare owlishly at the older miko. "Oh… Kaede-bachan. I'm sorry, were you asking me something?" She blushed, a hint of shame and mild embarrassment coloring her cheeks. She'd come with every intention of working, but once she'd gingerly plopped herself down amongst the fragrant greens, her body had taken root and her mind had wandered off. Instead of pulling and plucking, she'd been openly basking in the sun, enjoying the laziness of the day, the sweet smell of the grass, and the warmth in the air at a time that was otherwise becoming cooler with each passing day. Summer was on the verge of becoming autumn, and though it was still warm enough to go about in lighter garb, there was a subtle, crisp smell to the air that hinted of chillier mornings to come.

"I was just wondering where you had gone off to," the elderly miko said with a smile, "It must have been somewhere far from here, child." Kagome smiled back guiltily.

"Forgive me, Kaede-bachan. I just never seem to get a quiet moment to myself anymore. I wasn't even thinking about anything in particular, really. I was just enjoying the day. Just trying to…be, for a moment or two."

The elderly miko nodded in companionable understanding, a feeling of fondness for the young girl gently swelling in her breast. Placing large, gnarled hands beside her knees, she pushed herself to her feet.

"Child, I do believe that I'm going to go over that hill and see if there are any reishi to be had over there. There's less sunlight, and more trees, so the chances are better. No, child, stay put," she said quickly, staying the girl with a soft gesture when she began to rise as well. "You wait here and make the most of it. I'll only be a few moments."

Kagome settled back into the grass and offered the elderly woman a grateful smile. "Thank you," she said simply. There was no need to elaborate.

When Kaede had finally shuffled her way over the hill, Kagome found herself truly alone for the first time in what seemed like an eternity. The morning was sweet and clear, and she finally had time to be by herself and think. She could think about anything that she cared to, anything at all. The day was clear, the coast was clear, and, more importantly, her mind was clear.

Clear, that is, except… Except for the fact that it wasn't. In the back of her mind was the presence of something faint. Or rather, something that had started out faint, but was becoming more pronounced with each passing second. Two somethings, and now they were almost upon her. If she didn't know any better…

"Kouga-kun," she whispered. Her back was to the forest. She was almost afraid to turn around and see.

"Kagome." Right from the edge of the meadow. He was much closer than she'd assumed. He had already seen her, so there was no chance of hiding; he'd only have sniffed her out anyway. And as for running… Kagome looked down at her belly. That was just ludicrous. No options remained save confrontation. Once again, she thanked her good fortune for this time alone.

Getting up slowly, for slowly was the only way she was able anymore, she turned on wobbly legs and faced the wolf demon. Best to get things right out in the open. No holds barred, all cards out on the table. Good gods, she was so nervous that she was resorting to clichés.

It had been a long time since she'd seen him last, back even before she and Inuyasha had become lovers, but all that time had done little to change the wolf prince. While her body now was as different from before as night is from day, Kouga had remained exactly the same. Exactly how she had remembered him. She wasn't all that surprised; a year was virtually nothing in the life of a youkai. But just the same, she felt a small measure of relief to see how very unchanged he was. Those same piercing blue eyes held her own in a keen, unwavering gaze. The same glossy black hair stirred restlessly in the slight autumn breeze. The same sharp nose in the center of his face, the same proud jaw line, all set above the powerful body she hadn't managed to forget. The long, ropey muscles of his arms and legs were built for speed, and were as flawless as the rest of him. He looked wild. He looked free. She took comfort in the fact that some things, at least, were unchanging. She wondered if Kouga's love was one of those infallible things, as changeless as his outward appearance. She wondered if it mattered.

She was about to find out. He was smiling at her. And then the smile slowly faded away.

"What in the…?" He moved closer. Three steps…two steps…one. Slowly, the light of comprehension began to work its way into his features.

"What…what's happened to you? Don't tell me…?" He reached out. Lifting her hand to his lips, he lowered his head as if to kiss the upturned palm. Rather, an active nose brushed the pulse point on her wrist, then paused to sniff there a moment longer. His eyes narrowed.

"Inukuro…" he growled, his fingers tightening on her wrist. Enough to get her blood pumping, but not enough to inflict injury. "I can't believe it! I can't believe he did this to you!"

"It wasn't like that," Kagome said softly, "I wanted to."

"Kagome," he interjected; his mouth twisted in an ugly grimace as he closed his eyes and turned his head away. "I know that you don't like violence, but to try to protect him at the cost of your own suffering? I'm going to kill that fucking mutt!"

"Kouga, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but-" Kouga spun back around, his eyes flashing dangerously. He was shaking with rage.

"How DARE he touch you when I had already laid claim to you!"

"Kouga, I…" she began apologetically, then stopped abruptly. "Wait a second, claim?"

"Yeah! That fucking mutt, he-" Kouga paused. The trembling of his limbs stilled and his expression eased into something a bit more neutral. He looked as if he had just noticed her standing there for the first time. "Wait, no, I didn't mean-"

"Stupid, arrogant males and their stupid pride!" Kagome seethed, furiously attempting to pull her hand back from his grasp, "You don't care about what's happened to me at all, do you? It's just a competition between you two! Like I'm some kind of…of a…chew toy!"

"A what?"

"The only reason you're upset at all is because of some stupid claim!"

"That's not the only reason!" Kouga protested, refusing to surrender the hand. "I love you, Kagome."

There they were. Those four little words that she'd been waiting to hear for a very, very long time. It should have been a temptation. It wasn't as if, in her weaker moments, her mind hadn't turned to the possibility of Kouga. But hearing them as she just had, coming from Kouga's mouth, she realized how utterly meaningless they were. She simply did not love him. She would never love him, and consequently, she would never leave with him. It would be preferable to suffer and stumble through with Inuyasha. For better or worse, she loved Inuyasha.

"Kouga-kun," Kagome said after a long pause, "If you really mean that-"

"I do," he interrupted, gathering up her other hand and clasping them gently to his chest. "I'm sorry Kagome, I didn't mean to upset you. I do care about what's happened to you. That's why right after I kill Inukuro, I'm going to bring you back to my den and claim you properly."

Kagome's calm, resolute expression fell to horror. "But Kouga-kun!"

"Shh…" he whispered, bringing her knuckles to his mouth. This time, he kissed them. "I know what you're thinking, but it's alright. It doesn't matter that you're carrying his whelp. Once I've killed him, it will be perfectly acceptable for me to claim his widowed mate as my own. Think of it as 'the spoils of war.' It happens all the time."

Kagome was beginning to wish she'd never left her bed that morning.

"Kouga-"

"And really, I can live with it," he continued, releasing one of her hands so that he could reach out and lovingly stroke her cheek with the backs of his knuckles, "It's not what we had envisioned for our future together, I know, but it'll be all right. I love you, Kagome. What else matters?" He was smiling again. Gods help her.

"Kouga-kun, listen to me. If you really do love me, then listen to me," she persisted. "I love Inuyasha."

Kouga stared at her mutely, though she had to give him some credit. He wasn't smiling anymore.

"Do you hear me? I'm in love with Inuyasha," she repeated, waiting for the nod, or at the very least, the look of comprehension she was hoping for. "And even if I weren't, this child is his. I can't leave him, not even if I wanted to. Which I don't!" she added quickly when his mouth began to open. "I'm sorry. In a lot of ways, it would be much easier to go with you, but I can't. You understand, don't y-"

Kouga cut her short by pulling her to his chest. After her initial surprise, Kagome accepted his embrace and closed her eyes, resting her head against his shoulder.

"Kouga-kun, please, tell me that you understand."

"My poor Kagome," he whispered, stroking her hair.

Kagome sighed. She had a sinking feeling that she wasn't getting through. She was about to open her mouth and try again, when suddenly from behind, she heard the dreadfully familiar sound of bare feet whipping through tall grass, charging them at a terrible speed. The sound stopped abruptly with a heavy, dragging noise a few yards away from her turned back, and coincided with the rising of Kouga's hackles.

'Of course,' Kagome thought grimly. 'You knew this was coming.'

The scream came next, exactly how she might have envisioned it.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?"

"Oh, Inuyasha," Kagome sighed in defeat, turning around to greet him properly. "This is so not what you think it is."

"What the hell are you-" the hanyou began, growing confused and agitated by her blasé response to his explosion. Flustered, his face had turned an unnatural shade of red. "Stop talking shit!" he finally expelled, pointing one clawed finger of accusation at the pair. "It's exactly what I think it is! You were hugging that fucking wolf!"

"Oi, Inukuro-" Kouga snarled, raising a fist.

"Shut up!" the hanyou screamed over him, "You have two seconds to get out of here before I rip out your liver and force-feed it to you!"

"Somebody's gonna lose their innards today, but it ain't gonna be me!" the wolf snarled, stepping between Inuyasha and Kagome. "You've got some fucking nerve, mutt! Just what the hell made you think that you could stick your filthy dog dick inside my woman?"

"My…w-what? Your-" Inuyasha sputtered, achieving the nearly impossible by turning an even deeper shade of red. Then, when the full implication of what had been said finally registered, he roared, "Your woman?!"

Hands fisted at his hips, Kouga uttered a short, harsh bark of laughter. "First you force yourself on my mate, then you have the nerve to act surprised? I can't believe how stupid you are!"

"She's not your mate!" Inuyasha growled murderously, fingers and eyebrows jerking spasmodically. Kouga didn't even blink.

"Of course she is!"

"You stupid idiot, look at her!" the hanyou demanded, gesticulating wildly at Kagome. To illustrate his point, Kagome held her arms away from her body, palms up, and looked down at her belly. Then she looked back up at Kouga as if to say 'See?'

"Keh," Kouga snorted, folding his arms over his chest and raising one disdainful eyebrow at the hanyou. "So Inukuro managed to figure out what fits where. You think I give a shit? None of that'll matter once I kill you."

"Oh really? An' you think it's gonna be that easy?"

"Yup."

Kagome watched the fracas from the sidelines, not so much concerned as tired and frustrated with the entire situation. When Kouga rabbit-kicked her hanyou into a nearby tree, she moved to the other side of the meadow.

'It was shaping up to be such a pleasant morning, too,' she thought with a morose sigh. 'I should have tried to hide behind something the moment I sensed Kouga-kun's shards. Maybe he wouldn't have recognized my scent with the baby…'

"Aw, who am I kidding?" she muttered aloud, her head following Kouga's flight across the meadow, until he skidded to a head-first halt, tearing up the soft earth. "If he was close enough that I could sense him, he would have sensed…" Kagome stopped in mid-sentence, eyes widening as something momentous suddenly occurred to her.

"Sensed. Sensed! Inuyasha!" Without a moment's hesitation, Kagome toddled headlong into the fray. The menfolk held their positions; Inuyasha presently held Kouga by the throat, his fist hung poised in midair.

"Are you crazy?! Get the hell out of here, you're gonna get hurt!" he yelled. The choked gurgle from Kouga's windpipe was similarly scolding.

Heedless of anything except her excitement, Kagome ignored the outburst entirely. "Inuyasha! I did it! I did it! She was wrong!" Then, grabbing hold of his forelocks, she tugged his face downward and began to shower it in tiny, rapid kisses of joy.

"Kagome, wait- What?" Inuyasha protested, casting an uncertain glance at Kouga. He wasn't sure whether to be embarrassed by her behavior or to start gloating.

"Oi, Kagome! Don't kiss that mutt!" Kouga snapped.

Kouga's reaction became the deciding factor. Slipping an arm around Kagome's waist, Inuyasha turned his half-swollen face to the wolf and declared haughtily, "She'll kiss whoever she wants, fleabag! She knows who her-" But before he could finish properly, Kagome released his face and spun around, throwing her arms around Kouga.

"Thank you!" she cried, planting a big, wet kiss on the wolf prince's cheek, "Thank you for coming to find me, Kouga-kun! If you hadn't come by, I might never have-"

"You see that mutt?" Kouga snarled, sporting an enormously self-satisfied smile.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha howled. Kagome turned around, grabbing both of Inuyasha's hands, and began to hop up and down on the balls of her feet.

"I did it, Inuyasha, I did it!"

"You bet she did, dog turd!" Kouga said smugly, grinning at the hanyou over the girl's bobbing head. "Hold on, Kagome. Give me two minutes to rip his head off and then we can go." Kouga reached over and grabbed Kagome's hand, pulling her away from Inuyasha. Inuyasha grabbed Kouga's wrist.

"She's not going anywhere, you stupid asshole!"

"Get your hand off of me," the wolf answered coldly.

"Guys! Stop it! Kouga-kun, let go, you don't understand," Kagome complained loudly, trying to assert herself as she struggled to pry Kouga's long fingers from her wrist. "I did it! Kikyou said I wouldn't be able to anymore, but I-"

"Get your hand off of her!" Inuyasha growled, talking over Kagome's protests. Kouga matched his growl, then raised it a notch.

"Make me."

"I'll do you one better, wolf!" Inuyasha snarled, his hand reaching down to his waist. "I'll kill you!"

Kouga stepped forward until he was almost nose to nose with the hanyou. "Not a chance in hell, mutt."

"Stop it!" Kagome shouted, wriggling her way in between them. Putting a hand on either youkai's face, she shoved them apart. "Knock it off already! Inuyasha, osuwari."

"Umph!"

Once Inuyasha was out of the equation, she turned her attention to the wolf youkai. "Kouga-kun, I'm touched that you came all this way rescue me, but, as you can see, I'm fine. So, please leave. Now."

"But Kagome-" he wheedled.

"You fucking bastard, I'm gonna-"

"I said osuwari, Inuyasha," she stated calmly.

"Oof!"

She glanced back at him momentarily over her shoulder before turning back to Kouga. "Please Kouga-kun, we'll talk more about this later. I don't want to have to say that to him again."

The wolf prince smirked. "Are you kidding? I could watch this all day."

"Well, maybe," Kagome said unflinchingly, "but I don't like doing it. He's my mate, Kouga-kun."

All the good humor drained from Kouga's face. "Are you sure about this?"

Kagome nodded and said with finality, "I'm sure. It was my choice."

Kouga took a long time to respond. When he finally spoke, it was with a rare amount of vulnerability. For the first time since she'd met him, she sensed from him uncertainty. His voice was deeper than normal, yet soft and tremulous.

"You were my choice, Kagome."

"I'm sorry," she whispered, looking down at her belly. The intensity in his eyes was beginning to make her feel uncomfortable. Noting her change in demeanor, Kouga sighed and backed away.

"Alright," he said, a bit of the old bravado returning, "I'll go. For now. But I'm not going far."

"Kouga-kun-" she remonstrated, but he wouldn't hear it.

"My offer stands, Kagome. I don't want to be too far away when you change your mind, or when dog shit over there finally gets himself killed off," he said, peering over her shoulder and raising his voice for Inuyasha's benefit.

"In your dreams, asshole!" Inuyasha mumbled from the ground behind her.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Osu-"

"I'm not moving," Inuyasha muttered in obvious disgust.

Satisfied, she turned back to catch Kouga's eye and was surprised to find that he was already quite a distance away from her.

"Good-bye for now, Kagome," he called back to her, raising a hand in farewell. "I'll be keeping an eye on things, don't you worry." In another instant, he was gone from site. Not long after that, the presence of his shards faded from her perception.

Kagome breathed a quick sigh of relief. With Kouga gone, she could turn her attention back to more important matters. Turning around, she found Inuyasha sitting with his back to her, his arms tucked deep within the sleeves of his haori. Taking her time, she settled down behind him.

"I suppose I should have just let you go with him," grumbled the back of Inuyasha's head, which was all she could see at the moment. "That would have showed me, right?"

"What are you griping about now?" she asked, plucking at the fabric of his sleeve. One of his ears began to flit and twitch nervously. He shifted around until he was partially facing her, but refused to look her in the eye, and chose instead to focus on some imaginary object, far off on the horizon.

"You're trying to get revenge on me, for Kikyou. That's what this was all about, wasn't it?" he demanded.

Kagome laughed wryly. "Don't be ridiculous! You know how he is. I had nothing to do with this!"

"Yeah?" Inuyasha snorted in disbelief. "Then why'd you kiss him?"

"It was on the cheek!" Kagome cried defensively. "It was a friendly kiss! I can't believe you're getting upset about this, you're sulking over nothing!"

"I can't believe you kissed him!" he retorted. "And I ain't sulking."

"On the cheek!" she hollered, hands flailing in exasperation.

"I know!"

"Why are you making this into such a big deal? You know I don't have any feelings for Kouga! It was a friendly kiss!"

"Don't you get it?" he cried, scowling fiercely at her. "Don't you get why he's always coming after you, calling you his woman and all that other shit?"

Kagome shrugged. "I know he's a little persistent, but I think with time-"

"No! Not 'with time,'" he argued. "It's you, Kagome. You keep encouraging it!"

"I do no such thing!" she retorted, frowning at him.

"No?!" Inuyasha barked scornfully. "You're nice to him even though he's my enemy, you sit me every time I try to kill him or chase him off - right in front of him! - you don't immediately reject his flattery or his claim to you, and to top it all off, I just watched you kiss him!"

Kagome huffed in aggravation, then paused, and seemed to rethink her position. "Maybe," she said candidly. "But I just told him that I love you."

It was one of the few times in his life that Inuyasha was rendered speechless. Kagome took full advantage of the silence.

"And now he's gone. And I'm happy. Because not only is he gone, and you're here, but something very good happened to me today. Something I desperately needed to happen."

Inuyasha was silent, still staring at her with large, mystified eyes.

"Well, go on!" she pressed him. "Ask me what happened!"

Inuyasha swallowed nervously. His mouth felt dry. "What happened?"

"Right before Kouga-ku…Kouga showed up," she amended. It wouldn't hurt to grease the wheels. "Inuyasha, I sensed his shards!"

"Yeah?" Inuyasha's mouth twitched at one corner, lifting it into a lopsided grin. Kagome placed her fingers beneath his chin, tilting it slightly upward. Slowly, she closed the distance between them, licking her lips as their mouths drew closer. The kiss was loose and moist, relaxed, yet inviting. She drew his lower lip into her mouth, pulling on it with a gentle suction. She released it a moment after breaking the kiss, then leaned back, smiling at him almost drunkenly. The flush of his countenance and his ragged breathing made the skin on her shoulders pucker into tiny mounds of gooseflesh. It was no accident that the soft, round swell of her breasts had come to rest conveniently at his eye level.

"Yes," she cooed airily, her own color rising as her pulse began to quicken. "I am not utterly useless. And that makes me feel like celebrating. And I was hoping you'd celebrate with me."

"Kagome," he said in a rough whisper, his hand running beneath the dark strands of her hair to find a resting place at the back of her neck, "I'm very, very happy for you."

~~~~~~~~~

With slow, deliberate steps, Kaede made her way back to the sunlit meadow to collect Kagome and, together, head back to the village. She couldn't imagine that Inuyasha would be kept occupied for very much longer, so it was best that they get started.

As she approached the meadow from the far side of the tree where she'd left the girl, she noticed something red lying in the grass. For an instant, she feared that Kagome had come to some harm, but when she moved closer, her perspective changed. Bending down, she plucked at a corner of the garment and lifted it a few inches, rubbing the fabric between her fingers and thumb.

It was not anything of Kagome's, but Inuyasha's haori, tossed carelessly aside. The elderly miko was understandably puzzled, until an instant later, when she heard soft, feminine laughter from behind the thick trunk of the tree, followed by a deep, rumbling growl. Kaede's mouth stretched into a thin, almost unnoticeable grin and she shook her head. Righting herself, she turned away from the meadow and walked back alone.