InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Harsh Changes ❯ Chapter Nine ( Chapter 9 )

Harsh Changes

Chapter Nine-Expecting and the Unexpected

InuYasha glared at the fox over dinner, every so often making a low growl at Shippou. The darn fox was sitting safely in Kagome's lap, far from InuYasha's grasp. And Shippou damn well knew it, choosing a few more touchy subjects to poke fun at him with. But a few soft words from Kagome calmed both their tempers.

After dinner, Shippou curled up in Kagome's lap and fell asleep. Kagome was laying on her futon, her eyes open gently stroking the fox to sleep, although he really didn't need her help. InuYasha sat in the far corner, pretending to sleep. The small dinner fire was still blazing in the center distracting him from peaceful slumber. He simply kept his eyes shut, and his breathing steady. But he opens his eyes, when he heard Kagome sit up.

"InuYasha." she whispered softly.

"Do you need something to eat?" InuYasha said quickly, shifting his weight to sit on his back legs, causing him to sit very dog-like.

Kagome looked blankly at him.

"Kaede said that you would start to have cravings soon."

Kagome let out a small giggle.

"No, I'm fine, InuYasha. I just wanted to talk."

"OK."

"First off, I wanted to say I'm sorry-"

"Kagome, what on earth to do you have to be sorry about?"

"For forcing you into this life. For ruining all your plans."

"Kagome, you didn't ruin anything. You didn't have anything to do with what happen. If anyone ruined plans, it was me ruining yours."

"I still feel like I could have-"

"No, you did what you had to do, Kagome. Don't feel sorry."

His mind drifted back to the burnt forest Miroku had taken him to. He saw the green sapling among the grey destruction, reaching up for the sunlight in the haze of the morning. Out of destruction comes creation. The old trees had to be destroyed to let the new ones grow. His old plans had to be changed to let this new one be.

"Kagome, if you are happy with this, with the fact you are having my baby, then I'm happy about it. Don't worry about my plans. This is my plan now."

Kagome looked at him with the strangest look of affection InuYasha had ever seen. And he gave back a smile, forgetting for the moment any doubt he had about this arrangement. This really wasn't so bad, being with Kagome. It was better than being alone. Yeah, he had to put up with Shippou and his annoying antics. But Kagome was smiling at him at that moment and he seriously thought he could put up with any thing for that smile.

"We also need to talk about the jewel."

InuYasha let the smile fade.

"What about it?"

"The quest, InuYasha. We have to keep-"

"No way."

"What do you mean 'no way'?"

"It'll have to be put on hold in till after this."

"But, InuYasha. Do you know how long 'this' will take? It not a weekend thing. Raising a child takes a long time. We can't wait till 'this' is over."

"I didn't mean that long. Not while your pregnant. I don't want to take that chance."

"What chance? I'm pregnant, not crippled."

"Kagome, what if you're attack. You could really get hurt."

"But we can't wait-"

"Kagome."

"This is my responsibility. I can't just forget it for nine months and you forget, InuYasha, I won't be able to leave the baby in till its starts eating solid food. So, getting in as much shard hunting in now will make me feel like I did all I could."

"Kagome, it too dangerous. When you start showing, it'll slow you down more than you already are."

"Are you calling me slow?"

"No, I'm calling you human, and pregnant. You are in no condition to go jewel hunting."

"I am more than capable of handling myself just fine. I don't need to be treated like-"

"Stop being so stubborn, it for your own safety, for crying out loud."

"Crying out loud? InuYasha, we can't just stop looking for the jewel. What about Naraku?"

InuYasha winced at the name.

"We can't just let him get the jewel shards."

InuYasha thought it over. Kagome was the only one that could see the shards. But it's dangerous for her to be out there like that. He shook his head. He couldn't let her be in harm's way. He'd never forgive himself if she got hurt. But her eyes blazed. She wasn't going to let this die, easily. Shippou sat up, yawning.

"What's all the yelling about?" he asked.

"Nothing, Shippou. Go back to bed." Kagome said softly, beginning to pet him again.

"Was it about the shards?"

Kagome and InuYasha exchanged looks.

"Umm. . . Yeah, we were just talking-"

"Kagome, you seem worried."

"Shippou, don't worry about it."

Shippou frowned, his eyes darken in fear.

"Are you going to cry again?"

Kagome felt her heart stop.

"Are you going to get upset again?"

InuYasha turned away, feeling a tinge of pain in his chest. Guilt. He still remembers why she had gotten 'upset' the first time.

"No, Shippou. I'm fine. Go back to bed."

He looked up into Kagome's eyes, searching for a hint of distress. But her eyes were soft, troubled, but soft. He nodded his head and her eyes grew less troubled. Shippou curled back up, but found it almost impossible to sleep. So, he just closed his eyes and stayed still, pretending to sleep so not to disturb the conversation. They seemed like they really needed to finish it.

"Kagome." InuYasha whispered when he was sure Shippou was asleep again.

"Yes."

"How about we compromise. You continue to go on the quest in till you start showing-"

"But what about-"

"And when you do, you stay here and we keep looking. It will be slow going without you, but I'm sure we can find a few on our own."

Kagome watched Shippou as he lay in her lap, quite aware of the fact he was awake. She let her breathe whistle through her teeth. It was strange having InuYasha compromise like that, to try and come to a peaceful solution. She wondered if it was a bad sign. But, it was reasonable offer, nonetheless. It would allow her to at least make an effort toward her quest. She nodded her head.

"OK."

"You tell Sango that you agreed with this, OK." InuYasha added.

Kagome let out another soft giggle.

"Alright."

InuYasha nodded his head, and leaned back to try and get some sleep.

"InuYasha."

He stiffens back up.

"Would you mind getting me some fish?"

It had been almost three months since Kagome found out she was pregnant. The small group had been traveling the land searching for jewel shards. They had come across over six shards, four of them being in one demon. InuYasha did a little more thinking before heading into battle, and everyone kept a close eye on Kagome.

Myoga had also been informed of the situation, giving some valuable information about demonic pregnancy. Kagome had noticed her hair had started to grow at an unnatural rate and her scars were healing much cleaner than they should. According to Myoga that was normal. Her senses were also heightening. This was all a temporary condition that would end after the baby was born.

Kagome had begun to wear kimonos instead of her own strange clothes, partly because they began not to fit her and partly to hide her growing belly from InuYasha. She had promised she would stay home once she began to show, but she didn't think she would start to show so soon.

She would have worn the priestess outfit; it would have hid it better. But with her hair growing as fast as it was, her resembles to Kikyo was even worse than normal. The red and white outfit was just too much. She took baths by herself in an effort to keep it to herself, but Sango found out easily enough. She knew just by the way Kagome began to sleep, no longer on her side or belly, but flat on her back.

Other than that, the whole situation seemed normal. Besides the strange fish and fruit cravings she got. And the mood swings. Other than all that, things were normal. There were fights over minor, pointless things. Miroku had a red hand print on his face most of the time. Shippou was getting the normal amounts of lumps on his head from InuYasha. Yes, everything was back to as normal as it could get.

"Where did the demon go?" Miroku asked the shaking peasant.

They were on the trail of another jewel shard, which if obtained would bring the total to eight. A village had been attacked by a monstrous fire breathing demon. Kagome had sense a jewel shard in the forest, after they found the destroyed village. The peasant pointed to the forest.

"Let's go!" InuYasha said, unsheathing his sword.

Following the trail of this demon was a lot easier than most, since he left a nice trail of destruction where ever he went. And the trail was fresh, proven by the still smoldering trees and undergrowth. Everyone went running off, preparing for battle, expect for Kagome, Kirara and Shippou. Kirara had been made the official guardian of Kagome during battles. Kagome found herself unable of keep up with the others. The path became more dangerous, since the embers became fire. They were getting closer. Suddenly, the ground beneath them rumbled.

"What was that?" asked Miroku.

"How the hell should I know?" answered InuYasha.

The rumbling became shaking, then the shaking became shifting of the earth beneath them.

"It's beneath us." concluded Sango.

"Come on, you coward. Show yourself." InuYasha cried out.

To answer the demon pushed himself up from his hiding place. It was a huge demon, spanning over thirty feet in length, with a long lizard like body and red scales. Three eyes starred hungrily at InuYasha, Sango and Miroku. A deep growl escaping from its throat as it came closer.

InuYasha returned the growl and took off, swinging his sword. The demon swirled around, almost gracefully, successfully dodging most of the attack. His tail got the most of the force. It fell off, still moving on the ground. Kagome came up to the battle finally, just as InuYasha was being thrown back by the detached tail, hitting the ground with such force that a cloud of dust surrounded the area.

"InuYasha." she cried out.

He quickly recovered upon hearing Kagome's frighten screams. She was here and as such in danger. But she also could help him out. He narrowly escaped another blow by the demon, partly aided by Sango's hiraikotsu.

"Lady Kagome." called out Miroku, "Could you tell me the location of the shard?"

Kagome nodded. She gazed up at the demon. At first the shard didn't show itself. That had been happening a lot lately. It seemed the more the pregnancy progressed, the less she could sense the shards. She had only confided in telling Kaede this information. She had said that chances are her powers were focusing on the growing baby inside of her, yet, another reason for her to stay home, away from these dangerous battles.

Miroku caught the sense of hesitation from Kagome in the heat of battle. Was she having trouble sensing the shards? It would make sense if she was. The priestess power would probably going to have work to do, since it was a part-demon baby inside of her. Finally, a weak glow appeared on the belly of the beast.

"Under the belly." Kagome hollowed out, "It's on his belly."

"I got it." InuYasha said, aiming for the soft belly.

The demon wasn't going to give up so easily. It rose up its head and let fire pour from its opened mouth. The fire hit InuYasha head on, but his firerat coat kept him safe. It spun around hitting InuYasha with the stub that was once his tail. InuYasha was thrown off balance, stumbling to the ground, where the monster took the opportunity to stomp on InuYasha's body.

Sango made an attempt to get the beast off of him, but was thrown back roughly against the side of a cliff, knocking her out. It opened its mouth again, preparing to let another wave of fire loose, but InuYasha got a grip on his foot and threw it off his body. The fire attack was thrown around wildly, as it landed on its back.

InuYasha, who still had a death grip on his sword, raised it over his head and struck the beast right through the middle, it gave one last scream before exploding into dust and disappearing. The shard hit the ground with a soft ping. He quickly retrieved the small fragment. Sango came to, groaning as the world came back into view.

"InuYasha." Miroku said, his voice filled with a frighten tone.

InuYasha turned around slowly, praying that nothing interesting was happening behind him. No such luck. Miroku was holding Kagome. Her eyes were close, and her body was blacken by fire. InuYasha felt his heart stop.

"Kagome." he screamed.