InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Expectation ❯ Chapter 15 ( Chapter 15 )

Author's note: I realize that six months is a long time, guys, and I apologize for that. But see? I told you I wasn't ditching the story altogether. Anyway, some serious thanks are in order here; Thank you Niamh, for the awesome beta, for 'holding your tongue' *wink wink* and for constantly riding my tail ("So Nanda, how's the next chapter of Expectation coming along?"). Thank you Rhoda, Thank you Sakusha, and Thank you Squeakyinuears for stepping up to the beta plate for this chapter (Squeaky, your wonderfully nit-picky beta would have made Ithilwen proud). I couldn't have done it without you guys, and you don't even know how serious I am when I say that. Finally, I want to thank all my readers for waiting so patiently while I got my act together. (Boy, I sure hope some of you are still reading this thing. How embarrassing would that be!) Now, without further ado, (because this has gone on far too long already) Chapter 15:

"Why no one will help me, I'm too dumb, I'm too smart, they'll not understand me, I'm lonely, they'll hate me, there is not enough time, it's too hard to help me, God wants me to work, no resting no lazy…

I'm too far from home, it takes far too much energy, I cannot afford to, no one will ever see me…

No one can have it all, see I have to, they want me to, and I can't let them down, I will never be happy."

These excuses, how they've served me so well;

they've kept me safe, they've kept me stuck,

they've kept me locked in my own cell.

These excuses, how they're so familiar;

they've kept me blocked, they've kept me small,

they've kept me safe inside my shell."

- Excuses, Alanis Morissette

Part 15

From her secreted position behind a thick copse of trees, Kagura watched the wolf prince speed off until he was no more than a dingy speck in the distance. She'd hidden herself rather poorly, still reveling as she was in her newly discovered secret, but he'd been in such a state that he hadn't even noticed her scent as he raced past. She, however, had become all too familiar with his as of late. That supreme bastard Naraku had sent her to track the wolf's movements awhile back, and in that time she'd learned little, aside from the fact that a wolf youkai pack comprised solely of males seldom bathe and have atrocious eating habits. But what she'd seen today made up for weeks of inhaling the noxious smell of their kills gone fetid in the midday sun and the sour stench of wolf sweat.

At first, the wolf's reunion with Inuyasha's miko had done little to pique her interest. She was all too aware of his 'great plans' for the girl; one didn't even have to be a particularly diligent spy in order to pick up on that. So she'd stayed out of the way, hanging back in the forest, out of range. Though an encounter with both the hanyou and the wolf might have done something to alleviate her oppressive boredom, she was hesitant to start a fight. She was not a fool; her life had become a precious commodity as of late, not something to be risked so carelessly. Then there was the very real fact that her opponents would serve her better in the future if they remained alive. For the time being, anyway, until Naraku could be disposed of. No easy feat, she knew, and one she would never be able to manage on her own. But if Inuyasha and his miko kept building upon their combined power, or if she could somehow manage to sway that stoic monolith of a youkai lord…

She'd sighed then, only half paying attention to the wolf and the mutt's tiresome posturing, tapping the black lacquered tip of her fan against her painted lips.

Sesshoumaru. What she needed with that one was leverage, bartering power. He hadn't shown any interest in the Shikon no tama, and she knew he wouldn't want the Tetsusaiga simply handed to him - not that she thought she could get it, at least not without severe risk to herself. He'd be insulted, and she didn't want his anger or contempt - not directed at her, anyway. No, what she needed was Sesshoumaru's power on her side. But how to ingratiate herself to him? That was the problem…

It had been just as she was thinking along these lines that she noticed what was really going on in the meadow. A smile spread widely across her face, and she'd had to bite down hard on her bottom lip to keep from laughing out loud and alerting them of her presence. It was too good to interrupt.

'No wonder the monk looked ready to piss himself.'

Now, as the artificial wind created in Kouga's wake died down and the forest resettled itself, she found herself faced with an intriguing new dilemma. What to do with this newfound information?

'What to do, what to do?'

The obvious first choice was to go immediately to Naraku. This was exactly the sort of thing he'd want to be made aware of. But then, that didn't serve her purposes, and it would certainly mean doing more of his dirty work.

No. While keeping this information from Naraku was potentially dangerous, she could always deny later that she'd ever known. He'd sent her to track the wolf, after all, not the mutt. And besides, what she had in mind could prove far more entertaining. Entertaining, and possibly beneficial.

"Ho-hum," she sighed, plucking a feather from the ornament that held back her hair. "Things have been so horribly dull lately. Time to stir the pot."

****

Miles away, and fortuitously oblivious, a pair of wolf youkai sat next to each other in the low grass, sunning themselves in the remains of the previous night's camp. Hakkaku, the younger of the two, hugged his knees and looked on solemnly as his friend stretched out, lowering himself onto his back with his hands behind his head. The favorable weather they'd been having all day - sunny, yet cool - should have acted as a soothing balm on his frayed nerves, but bad dreams and troubled thoughts had been plaguing him for quite some time now, and all the sunshine in the world couldn't mollify him. His paranoia ran deeper than usual lately, and for weeks he'd had the distinct, uncanny feeling that their small band was being stalked. Even now, in broad daylight, he couldn't seem to shake it. To make matters worse, Kouga had left them to themselves again, alone and unguarded. He and Ginta were no infant cubs, of course not, but there was no denying where the strength of their small pack did truly lie.

Maybe it was nothing. Maybe it was the nightmares. Or maybe it was just the damned uncertainty of it all. Either way, he was tired of living inside his head. Sighing heavily, he reached down and nudged his companion's shoulder, rousing him.

"Hey, Ginta?" he called softly.

A grimace passed over the napping youkai's face, but after a moment he sighed through his nose and replied, "Yeah?"

"I was just thinking…" Hakkaku began slowly, choosing his words with care. "Do you ever…wonder what we're going to do?"

"Do?" Ginta echoed lazily, cracking open one eye.

"You know," Hakkaku continued, "afterward. When this is all over."

"Hmm?" Ginta sighed distractedly, scratching at an old fleabite on his neck. "What do you mean?"

"Well, when we stop…running all the time." He muttered the word with a small measure of disgust, his nose wrinkling up. "I mean, if Kouga does finally manage to kill that Naraku guy and we don't all wind up dead. What'll we do then?"

Ginta shrugged. "I guess we'll go home."

"And…?" Hakkaku stared back at him intently, almost imploringly.

Ginta shrugged again. "And do what we did before all this shit happened."

"Maybe," Hakkaku said doubtfully, looking back down at his knees. "But we've been away for so long. Even if we do head back, so many of the original pack are gone now. Sure, the cave'll still be there, but without the pack, there's no real home to go back to. There just doesn't seem to be a point anymore."

Ginta turned his head slightly, raising an eyebrow at his friend. "I can't believe this is coming from you. Aren't you the one who's always moaning about wanting to go home?"

"Yeah," the younger wolf said glumly, "But I've been really thinking lately…"

Ginta put a finger to the tip of his nose and smirked. "That's your problem. You're thinking too much."

"But Ginta-" his friend protested.

"Look, I don't know," Ginta huffed, closing his eyes again and turning his face back up to the sun. "I guess we could always head up north first and try to convince a few of the elder's females to come back with us. Then we can go home and get started on making a new pack." He chuckled, smiling at the thought, and Hakkaku sighed, rolling his eyes.

"What's your problem now?" Ginta asked, rapidly becoming annoyed. "It doesn't sound too bad to me."

The younger wolf opened his mouth and was about to protest again, when a harsh whistling sound suddenly filled the air and an off-kilter cyclone tore through the center of their makeshift camp. Hakkaku closed his mouth immediately, but not soon enough to keep from getting a mouthful of dust.

"Kouga!" Ginta cried for the both of them when the wind died down to reveal their leader, his hands planted firmly on his hips, looking irate and impatient.

"'Ow ith Kagome-oneethaa?" Hakkaku asked unhappily, scraping dirt off of his tongue with his teeth, then spitting repeatedly in the grass.

"What?" Kouga barked irritably, with a violent flick of his tail. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"K-Kagome-oneesan," Ginta provided after a moment's hesitation, "How did it go? Was everything alright?" An instant later he regretted having said it. It should have been obvious by Kouga's complete change in demeanor upon arrival that things had not gone well, and were far from all right. The mangy pair felt themselves shrinking beneath Kouga's icy glare.

After a long, uncomfortable silence, Kouga crossed his arms over his chest and ground out, "Fine."

"It…did?" Hakkaku asked in a small voice, unable to mask his skepticism.

"Of course!" Kouga growled, his eyes darkening. "Everything went according to plan."

"Oh." Hakkaku responded lamely, cringing slightly.

"Then…where is she?" Ginta asked, curiosity winning over his better judgment. It was just too strange. Their leader certainly wasn't acting like someone who had gotten his own way.

Kouga shrugged as if it didn't matter in the slightest. "Who cares? Probably with Inukkoro."

Ginta frowned. "But Kouga, I thought you said before you left that you were going to bring her back with you this time, for good."

The wolf prince's eyes flashed dangerously, and he bared his fangs in an indignant snarl. "Are you crazy? Why would I want to drag a woman along with us? You two are slow enough as it is without having to worry about some stupid girl! We'd never get close enough to Naraku with her holding us back, and even if we did, she'd be a constant worry, when I'm supposed to be concentrating on the enemy! How are we supposed to get revenge for our fallen brothers if we're burdened like that? Why don't you two half-wits put your brains together once and awhile and think, huh?"

The pair flinched, unsure as to whether they should be more frightened of Kouga's anger, or concerned for his mental well-being.

"But Kouga…" Hakkaku protested unhappily, his eyes widening in solemn disbelief.

Kouga continued as if he hadn't heard, his voice becoming quieter and more deliberate as he spoke. "So when I found her, I told her how things were going to be from now on. I told her she shouldn't keep waiting for me, that I couldn't afford to be distracted by her any longer. She didn't take it very well - called me all kinds of names," he added as an afterthought, "but I told her it didn't matter what she said to me, I'd already made up my mind. That was that."

There was another long silence, although this time the wolf youkai found themselves holding their tongues out of shock and disbelief, than for fear of Kouga's wrath. It was Ginta who spoke finally, and only because of the two of them, he was the one who was still trying to believe a word of it.

"So you just…left her?" he said, eyebrows furrowed together as he struggled to understand. "You said you'd die before you'd allow Inuyasha-"

"Feh!" Kouga barked sardonically, cutting him off. "Inukkoro can have her. Let her slow him down! All it means is that we'll get to Naraku first. It's something I should have done a long time ago. It's much better this way." His voice never wavered, but Ginta could see that Kouga's left eye was twitching. Hakkaku didn't see this; he'd turned away awhile ago. It didn't matter why or how. Regardless of whatever happened next or how this all ended, their chief had lost.

'Oh Kouga…'

"Well? Why are we just standing here wasting time?" Kouga demanded, once again smiling like the triumphant rogue he was meant to be. "Let's move!" Before the others could utter a sound of agreement or protest, he was off, leaving them in the wake of his dust.

"Wait! Kouga!" Ginta groaned in protest, reluctantly plodding after the wolf prince. Hakkaku turned to take one last look behind him at the camp, as though he were trying to call out the presence he'd been feeling on the back of his neck for weeks. He paused for only a moment, then shook his head and turned to chase after the others.

****

Hours had passed since the departure of the wolf prince, but the pregnant miko and her hanyou had remained beneath the tree where they'd spent the remains of the morning idly making love, lying pooled in the randomly strewn jumble of their clothing. When a soft, cool breeze caressed Kagome's bare shoulder, causing her skin to shrivel and tighten into tiny mounds of gooseflesh, she pulled her mate closer, drawing warmth from his body. The subtle chill, becoming more and more frequent with each passing day, was troubling her. For the first time in her life, Kagome was not looking forward to the harvest season. When autumn fully arrived, winter would be lurking right around the corner. It would be her first winter away from her family, away from her home. And in the Sengoku Jidai, winter never arrived alone. It flew in abruptly, whether you were prepared for its arrival or not, and following closely at its heels was death. Were that not enough cause for worry, Kagome had one more; her baby was due to arrive right on the cusp of that unforgiving season.

Next to her, Inuyasha was laying on his side, his head propped up on his elbow and his other hand splayed flat across her ample belly, feeling the taunt skin beneath his palm spasm and roll as the baby shifted into an entirely new position. This was already the third time that afternoon.

"Ka-go-me," Inuyasha whispered, his thumb brushing gently back and forth across the surface of her skin as he watched it tremble and flux. Then when a small lump - what appeared to be either a knee or an elbow - protruded from her abdomen and traveled several inches before receding back in again, eliciting a small gasp from his mate, he asked, "Does it ever hurt?"

Kagome let her breath out slowly, then nodded. "Sometimes…" She reached over to fix a loose strand of his hair, and soon found herself twining the long ends near the bottom around her fingertips. "But it's not so bad," she added a few moments later. "Why are you asking?"

Inuyasha shrugged, then lowered his head to rest it against her swollen breast. Both were tender and a bit sore, so it wasn't the most comfortable position she could have asked for, but she was grateful for the contact and this show of intimacy from him. Rather than discourage him, she shifted slightly and kept it to herself.

When they were both settled, he answered. "I just thought it might hurt, that's all. I don't like it when you get hurt."

"Don't worry," she said, laying a hand over his, the one still resting on the baby.

"Can't help it," he replied, accepting her fingers, his calloused thumb moving up from the skin of her belly to rub slowly and rhythmically against the side of her hand. "Whenever Kaede goes out to whelp one of those things, she's always gone for a really long time. And she always comes back smelling like…blood," he finished, almost swallowing the last word.

'And sometimes she comes back smelling like death and dirt, Kagome - like freshly dug graves.'

"Well, I'm not going to lie to you," she sighed, squeezing his hand. "There does tend to be a lot of blood; but from what I gather, that's normal. It's also not unusual for a birth to take a really long time. My Mom said that she was in labor with me for over thirty-six hours! Can you believe it?" She received nothing but dead silence from Inuyasha in response to this, so she hurried on before things started to feel awkward. "Souta's birth took a lot less time, though. She told me that she almost had him in the cab on the way to hospital! My poor dad nearly passed out! They say it's like that, that it's a lot easier the second time around, and it just keeps getting easier every time afterward. I guess after the first time, your body just knows what to do. That's lucky, isn't it?" She paused again, looking down at the top of his head expectantly as she waited for some sign that he hadn't simply fallen asleep on her.

"Inuyasha? Are you listening to me?" She received a noncommittal grunt and a slight sideways movement of his head, which was neither a nod, nor a shake. "I was saying that it's lucky giving birth seems to get easier each time you do it." When this again failed to illicit a response, she tried expounding. "But then, I guess if it didn't, most women would stop after one, wouldn't they? I mean, not that I know…yet, but it seems that that would be the case, so they must be telling the truth. So this one may take a real long time, but the next-"

Kagome stopped abruptly, her mouth snapping closed. She turned her eyes down to the hanyou, who had finally lifted his head in response to that and was now looking back at her with a nearly blank expression. Very nearly; subtle traces of something cold and hard had settled in his eyes, and there was an undeniable stiffness lingering at his jaw.

"I-I mean…" she stammered, drowning in her mortification.

There was a long, pregnant pause, and then Inuyasha said flatly, "I don't want any more pups, Kagome."

"Oh!" Kagome's face turned red, and she quickly looked away, frenzied excuses flying from her lips. "Of course not. I didn't mean… Of course not!" she cried, shaking her head violently. "I…I wasn't thinking, it just slipped out." The situation was rapidly becoming unbearable. For the sake of her dignity, she had to end this. Shifting away from him, she reached over and began to grab frantically at her clothing. As her fumbling fingers latched onto her hakama, his hand reached across her body and caught them, bringing her to a gentle stop.

"Don't."

The length of his naked body was pressed against her back, his head resting at her shoulder. "Don't overreact," he huffed softly, his mouth by her ear. "It's not like that. It's not this. It's not you. You're fine. I couldn't ask for better." He sighed then, releasing her hand. "Which is the reason why there won't be any more after this."

Kagome's skin felt tight and unpleasant. She was beginning to feel sick. Inuyasha placed his hand on her trembling shoulder and gently pushed her down onto her back.

'Please, not this again…' he begged silently. He wasn't ready for another emotional bloodletting. There already had been far too many; far too many screams, far too many threats of leaving, and far too many frantic reassurances.

"Look at me," he said firmly when she refused to meet his eyes. Kagome blinked a few times, then reluctantly lifted her gaze.

"Inuya-" she began, but he shook his head, cutting her off.

"Just listen for once, don't argue. We can argue later, if you want; but right now, just listen." He sighed, looking up toward his hairline for an instant as though the words he needed next could be found there. Kagome lay still, hardly breathing, waiting.

"Having pups is dangerous, Kagome," he said finally, "Hanyou pups especially. Humans weren't meant to have 'em. You're not built for it. And even when things go well, there's always afterward. Being the mother of a whelp with mixed blood won't offer you any kind of safety."

"I already know this," she muttered, her voice thick and unconvincing.

Inuyasha sighed through his nose. When he spoke next, he went slowly, emphasizing each word carefully. "I don't want you to die. If anything happened to you..." he trailed off, not wanting to think it, let alone give breath to it. Starting again, he tried approaching his thoughts from another angle. "When my mother died… There wasn't anyone. Not anyone, Kagome, and I don't think I have words to tell you what that was like. And the more I think about you carrying this pup, the more I can't help but think of my mother, and what would happen if…" he stopped, finding himself right back where he hadn't wanted to go, but it didn't seem to matter any longer, because when he looked back at Kagome she didn't seem to be listening. It was at that moment that he noticed her tears.

"Don't cry!" he yelped defensively. "Don't you understand what I'm trying to say here? This isn't something to cry about!"

"No, no," Kagome moaned, waving her hand at him dismissively. With some difficulty she managed to sit up, then rubbed at her eyes with the heel of her hand. "I do understand, it's not… It's not that." She sighed wetly, sniffling a bit while trying to figure out a discreet way to wipe her nose. That was the trouble with this era - no facial tissues.

"It's not that," she repeated definitively, once she was able to calm herself a bit. "It's just all this talk about mothers was really beginning to get to me. It's been such a long time since I saw my mother last. I miss her. And Jii-chan, and Souta. All this time they must have been wondering where I am and why I haven't come back. All this time and never knowing… They must think I'm dead," she breathed, clutching the fabric of her hakama to her chest as though it were a talisman. "I just…miss them." Kagome could barely hold back the wave of grief and loneliness that wanted to pour out of her. She had to bite down on her bottom lip to keep it from spilling out. As it was, her chest was heaving violently with every breath she took.

Inuyasha watched her body silently convulse under the weight of her sorrow with a familiar mixture of sadness and guilt. This was as much his doing as it was hers, but for some reason, she had chosen to put the blame entirely on herself when it came to her family.

"You know, you could always go back," he said reluctantly. The fact that he didn't want her to was left unspoken, but he knew that she understood this already. Hell, even before the pup he'd never been comfortable when she left for home. At this point, it went without saying.

"Please, Inuyasha, we've been through this before."

"Well, yeah, but only when we've been in the middle of a fight!" he grumbled defensively. "I'm serious. They're your family. I don't think things would be as bad as you seem to think they'd be."

Kagome sighed morosely, staring helplessly at the crimson fabric puddled in her lap. "I'm afraid to take that chance. I think I'd rather die than see their disappointment, or worse their shame. I couldn't bear for them to look at me that way."

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed. "Is it better for them to think you're dead?" he asked dubiously.

Kagome shook her head slowly, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. Tears were returning to her red-rimmed eyes, but by now she was too far gone to try fighting them, and let them run unchecked down her face. "I don't know," she whispered, her voice sounding high and tight, as though it was barely managing to escape from her throat. "Sometimes I feel like I'm being terribly selfish, hiding away from them. Letting them suffer, thinking that maybe something terrible has happened to me, but never really knowing one way or the other. All the pain I'm causing them, because I'm afraid of what they'll say. And then other times," she continued, sniffling miserably, "I feel that giving in and seeing them again would be the really selfish thing to do. Humiliating them just because I'm feeling homesick. I don't know." She lifted her watery eyes to his, her lips trembling. "Maybe it's better if they think I'm dead. At least there's no shame in that." She stopped then and began to mop at herself with the soft edge of her hakama; her tears had started dripping from her chin onto the bare skin of her chest, and she hadn't liked the clammy feel of them on falling on places where they didn't belong.

After a long pause during which neither of them looked at each other, but stared down at their knees, Inuyasha said carefully, "If it were my kid, I'd rather have them alive. That other shit doesn't matter." Kagome jerked at the sound of his voice, her face locked in a blank, unreadable expression. Inuyasha coughed nervously, his shoulders rising the slightest bit, then falling again in a feeble shrug. "If you listen to Sesshoumaru, I put a dark mark on my family by being born. There wasn't anything I could do about it, 'cept maybe throw myself in the river and end their shame. He probably would have liked that," he muttered darkly. "But when you get right down to it, does it really fucking matter what he thinks? What other people thought? My mother loved me, and my father obviously thought I'd amount to something. They didn't give a shit about other people. I wasn't an embarrassment to them, and really, they were the only ones who mattered. My guess is it would be the same with your family. But then, you're never gonna find out hiding on this side."

Kagome frowned slightly, her eyebrows drawing together, and shook her head slowly. "I'm not ready for that. Not yet. Just the thought of it makes me feel nauseous."

"Well don't go making yourself sick. No one's gonna force you," he sighed, reaching down to pull the hakama from her numb fingers. Kagome let it slide from her grasp, only to be replaced a moment later by her off-white undergarments.

"Start there," he instructed. Kagome nodded mutely, staring down past the garments in her hand at the round swell of her stomach.

"Come on, get dressed." Inuyasha prompted from behind and above, where he was already knotting his hakama tightly in place across his abdomen. She heard the tell-tale rustle of fabric as he slid into his haori; pulling it over his shoulders, then aligning its seams with those of his soft, white under kimono. "We should head back. I promised the old hag I'd split some rails for a new fence today. Knowing her, if I don't get there soon she'll try to do it herself and wind up hacking off half her foot."

Kagome pulled on her tabi socks and wobbled unsteadily to her feet, but said nothing as she pulled on her short robes.

"So we'd better hurry," he added a few moments later. She didn't respond, but took her time slipping on her over garments and tying them in place, one by one. Undeterred, he delivered the punch line anyway. "Because she's running shy on body parts as it is."

Kagome glowered, trying not to smirk, despite herself. "That isn't funny, Inuyasha."

"I coulda sworn you were happy about something today," he griped, tucking his arms in his sleeves as he leaned back against the tree, watching her dress.

"You know, you're right. I was," she said lightly, turning to look at him, a soft glint in her eyes. "It isn't everyday a girl gets a visit from an old admirer."

Inuyasha scowled darkly, his ears flattening against the top of his head. "That isn't funny."

Kagome just smiled.

****

There was no sound in the palace of the dead. No light either, save for a faint glow moving behind the shoji screens of the central hall where Naraku sat stewing in his own foul vapors. Though he couldn't sense any youki coming off the source of that glow, he wasn't concerned. His poisonous jaki had killed everything living; the only creatures that could thrive in the thick, murky atmosphere of this palace were those he need not fear.

He watched the light travel down the length of the hallway until it stopped just outside his door. As if acting by it's own will, the shoji screen scraped itself open, and then, silent as a corpse's laugh, Kanna entered the room, her feet gliding soundlessly across the wooden floorboards. She called his name softly, the empty, emotionless sound of her voice hanging in the air between them like a pale apparition from a child's nightmare. He beckoned to her, fingers curled, claw like, and she drifted closer, holding out the mirror for him to see. For an instant, Naraku saw his current face reflected in the mirror. The piercing black eyes, the sharp hollows of the cheek bones, the long, inky hair flowing in oily waves well past the shoulders, all stolen from the young lord of this once austere, now phantom palace, Kagewaki. Naraku had merely an instant to reflect on this before an unnatural light wiped him from the mirror's gleaming surface and replaced his image with that of one of his enemies. It was the leader of the wolves, Kouga, and not surprisingly, he was running somewhere.

"Why are you showing me this?" Naraku asked impatiently. The wolf was miles away and, due to the barrier, had no idea where the palace was hidden. But had he been in the next room, Naraku wouldn't have considered him much of a threat. Kagura had been shadowing him for weeks and he'd never noticed her once, never mind the saimyoushou following them both.

"Stop wasting my-" Naraku stopped, his irritation at having been needlessly disturbed abated. The image in the mirror had shifted away from the wolf, back to where he appeared to have been running from. It was a brightly lit meadow, on the edge of a forest, and where the grass met the trees, where the light of the meadow blended into the gloom of the forest, stood a familiar figure.

"Kagome," Kanna breathed. For indeed it was Kagome, standing at the edge of the meadow, watching Kouga leave. Only this Kagome was not the same strange, troublesome girl he had become accustomed to seeing by Inuyasha's side. This was not the same Kagome he had feared. This girl appeared different. This Kagome seemed awkward, clumsy. This Kagome's once powerful aura had weakened to little more than a dull glow radiating from her significantly altered body.

This Kagome was very pregnant.

A razor-sharp smile spread across Naraku's stolen face, and a deep chuckle escaped from his parted lips.

'Ah, Inuyasha. What a very foolish, very human thing to do.'

He spared a glance up from the mirror to speak to Kanna. "Send word to Kagura that she needn't follow the wolf pack any longer. The saimyoushou have proven sufficient. Tell her that I have another task, one I'm certain she'll find more interesting than the last." He paused a moment in thought. The smile on his face grew horrible in his amusement. "Send Kohaku to deliver the message," Naraku purred. "He'll be accompanying her."

"Kagura is gone."

Naraku's smile faltered, his good humor souring in an instant against Kanna's softly spoken words. "Is that so?" he asked. "Where has she gone?"

"I don't know… She can't be seen."

"Keep looking. As soon as you find her, I want her sent here. Don't rouse Kohaku until she's returned."

"Yes."

A red haze was swirling in his head, lurking behind his eyes as it had before in the past. It was a disgusting feeling that he was far too familiar with, a mortal rage that he associated with the last vestiges of Onigumo.

"Leave me," he commanded sharply.

Kanna turned and left as silently and unceremoniously as she had arrived, like an abandoned skiff gliding into fog. Naraku was alone once more with his thoughts.

'For the first time in months I've discovered something important that could mean the annihilation of my enemies, and where are you, Kagura? You who are meant to follow my will in all things? This impediment will not be tolerated.'

Outside, a stiff wind shook the rotted trees surrounding the palace, snapping their dead branches like twigs. The slowly decaying wooden structure of the palace creaked and groaned in protest, but held. Naraku spared the ceiling a brief, disinterested glance, thinking instead how he would like to hear his willful detachment groan like those wooden beams, her spine snap like a dead branch. Her body rot like every other willful thing in this accursed palace.

'You've been warned once, Kagura, and once is more than you deserve. You won't get another.'

****

The darker hours of twilight had crept up slowly, as though the summer sunshine knew that its days were numbered, and was trying to make the most of its remaining time by refusing to set. By the time the first few eager stars had popped out into the dark blue sky, Rin was already rubbing droopy-lidded eyes. If the lord of the western lands had noticed this, he gave no indication, but his retainer was planning to speak up soon if the girl didn't cease her whining. As though prompted by Jaken's reluctance to do so, the girl reached forward and latched onto the long end of his sleeve and gave it a slight tug.

"Jaken-samaaaaaa…"

"Alright," he muttered. "I'll ask him." He coughed into one leathery fist, clearing his throat, then raised his voice and called out shrilly, "Er, excuse me, Sesshoumaru-sama, but don't you think it's time to stop for the-" Jaken 's voice died in his throat as Sesshoumaru stopped abruptly. He watched curiously as the youkai lord stood completely still, his eyes narrowed as though he were expecting something unpleasant to happen at any moment.

"What is it, Sesshoumaru-sama?" the girl asked, her exhaustion momentarily forgotten as she stared wide-eyed at the youkai lord.

"Quiet, fool," Jaken whispered scoldingly. "Can't you see he's trying to concentrate?"

"Ooooh," Rin cooed, sounding impressed.

However, as the seconds ticked by with no word or movement from his master, Jaken soon found himself asking plaintively, "Sesshoumaru-sama?"

Sesshoumaru cast as irritated sideways glance at the toad youkai, but remained silent, nose held steadily to the night air. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a burst of violent wind ripped through them. Jaken was blown off his feet, tumbling backward into Rin who caught and steadied him. Then, just as suddenly as it had started, the wind came to an immediate stop. There, standing in front of them on a spot of grass where nothing had been a moment before was the woman who smelled of that loathsome creature. A detachment of that traitorous vermin Naraku, Kagura, the wind witch.

"You!" Jaken sputtered angrily, grasping the staff of heads tightly in both hands as he jumped to his feet. His hat had become cocked to one side during his tumble and behind him Rin was straightening it. "You dare show your face to Sesshoumaru-sama again? Is there no limit to your brazenness?" he squeaked indignantly, waving his staff threateningly at the wind youkai. "Why of all the-"

"Jaken," Sesshoumaru said brusquely, his meaning unmistakable. Jaken immediately fell silent, but continued to glower all the same.

"Hello, Sesshoumaru," Kagura said silkily. She crossed her arms delicately over her chest, tapping her closed fan playfully against her shoulder. "You're looking as impassive as ever."

Sesshoumaru uttered a short sound of contempt. "What do you want this time? I've already told you that I have no intention of helping you."

Kagura frowned slightly, the tip of her fan dipping a fraction as she clenched it in her fist. "Is that what passes for a greeting these days? There's no need for such hostility, Sesshoumaru. I've merely come to congratulate you."

Rin's eyes widened at the wind user's words and she bent down to whisper in Jaken's ear, "What does she mean?"

"How should I know, girl?" Jaken hissed back, "Hush up and listen!"

Sesshoumaru's eyebrows rose only slightly at the wind witch's faintly bemusing statement. "I see…and I suppose I am meant to ask the reason." This was not a question.

Kagura smirked, certain that despite this cool façade, she'd managed to pique his interest. "You mean you haven't heard?" she asked coyly, her smile widening to reveal teeth. Her eyes had taken on a hungry gleam in the light of the rising moon. She tapped her fan gently on the side of her face and sighed, "Pity."

Sesshoumaru must have been aware of her amusement, because his eyebrows lowered again and the disinterested expression that he'd been wearing before darkened considerably. "I'm tiring of this game. You've come this far, either say what you've come to or leave. It makes little difference to me."

Kagura seemed further amused by this. "Oh?" she asked, lifting a sardonic eyebrow, "I'd have thought you'd find this very interesting. But then," she continued, shooting him a meaningful glance, "if your own brother didn't think it important enough to tell you himself, then perhaps I've been wrong."

"Inuyasha." Sesshoumaru said flatly, grimacing slightly, as though the very word itself was unpalatable.

"Of course," Kagura said with a grin. "You really haven't heard the good news? Very well, then. I suppose I'll have to be the one to tell you." Sesshoumaru said nothing in response to her posturing, but his silence was as good as his consent as far as she was concerned. Pausing for dramatic effect, she smiled at the youkai lord and said with poorly feigned sincerity, "Congratulations, Sesshoumaru. You're about to become an uncle."