InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Lessons of the Father ❯ whats in a name ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and co. are property of Rumiko Takahashi.

 

Important author's note about spoilers: Hello readers, I am sure that at least some of you will have some questions after this chapter … like `Why does Sesshoumaru have 2 arms? What the hell is Bakusaiga? What chu talking bout Rin and the darkness of hell?' Well this is all fairly recent manga happenings so if your not up in the manga some of this might escape you and I assure you that it will only get worse from here. If you have any questions or want the run down message me or email me or what ever and ill give you the abriged version, or I can give you a link to a site that has them. Anyway, later on this stuff is going to get more important so of you are feeling confused please let me know, ill do my best in later chapters to clarify some things, but if it hampers your enjoyment of the manga then you have been warned.

 

Other than that … thanks for reading !

 

Chapter 3: What's in a name…

 

 

Kagome stretch and yawned trying to get rid of the sleepy haze that filled her mind. Stretching brought her attention to the pain in her abdomen … and lower. Sitting up quickly, a little too quickly for one in her condition, she gasped and grabbed her noticeably empty tummy.

 

Memories of the miko's plotting and her running to the woods only to be found by Sesshoumaru, of all people, came back to her in rapid succession. She ran her hand down her face and groaned.

 

“Did anyone get the number of that train?” Sesshoumaru was aware and on his feet the second she woke up. He had no idea what the `train' was that she was talking about, but he hoped that it had something to do with her taking the baby so that he and Rin could leave.

 

Kagome looked around the small room and found Sesshoumaru, as far away as he could be considering the size of the place, looking at her expectantly. Her attention was drawn to the tiny wrapped bundle in his arms. She held out her arms and accepted the bundle gratefully as he deposited it into her arms, also grateful but for a whole other reason.

 

Kagome moved the blanket aside to get a better look at her baby's face. She remembered getting to see him briefly as soon as he came out, but this was her first time really looking at him. Everyone and everything in the room disappeared as he opened his tiny golden eyes to look back at her. In that instant her whole world seemed to morph into something new; something tiny and beautiful with golden eyes and puppy ears. Her life was no longer her own and she couldn't have been more grateful.

 

He was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen.

 

Tears coursed down her cheeks as she ran her fingers through the fine white hair that rested between his ears. “Kami, how is it possible to love someone this much?” She asked to no one in particular.

 

Sesshoumaru watched her intently. He had a feeling that he was being privy to something very important, but he wasn't sure if it was something that was mean to be private or if it was ok that he was there. Either way it mattered not to him, the pup was safe, his mother was awake, and it was time for him to go.

 

Her soft words stopped him. He wasn't sure how much someone could love another before it became too much. Watching her gently explore her pup's features with her fingers he thought of Rin. He thought of the desperation he felt when she was taken by the darkness of hell, and the intensity of the emotions he felt in his heart when she breathed again. He wasn't sure how it was possible to care for someone so much that you would risk your very soul for them, but he knew that it was.

 

The pup's soft whines brought Sesshoumaru back to the moment.

 

The baby was nuzzling Kagome's chest and whining softly. She looked around the room for something, not really sure what she was looking for. She knew that the baby wanted to eat, but she wasn't really sure how, and Sesshoumaru was standing right there.

 

“He needs to eat.” Sesshoumaru said impatiently. The pup's whines and the woman's indecision were grating on his nerves.

 

“I know!” She snapped then softened her tone. “I just don't… could you uh…” Sesshoumaru caught the hint and turned his back to her.

 

Kagome wrestled with the baby for a minute, trying to remember how Sango had done this the last time she saw her. Finally the pup latched on and started sucking contently so she covered her breast and the baby with a blanket.

 

“Ok, you can turn back around.”

 

Sesshoumaru looked at her and the blanked covered her for a moment. “Your human body is not desirable in the least; there is no need to cover yourself.”

 

“For modesty's sake.” Kagome laughed. Of course she would not presume that the almighty Lord Sesshoumaru would find her body interesting.

 

That made Sesshoumaru snort. Modesty and her don't even belong in the same room. The way she dressed most of the time was fitting for a whore. He had thought that she was one the first few times that they met. And now, when she was doing something completely natural and normal, she decided to be modest. It was laughable.

 

“Um I wanted to say thank you. You saved us. I think that we both would have died if you hadn't come along.” Kagome broke through the silence, choosing to ignore the snort that was obviously a comment on her modesty.

 

“You would have.” Kagome knew it was the closest thing that she was going to get to a `your welcome', and it was good enough.

 

“You said that Inuyasha left, to strengthen Tessaiga?” It had been on his mind, the explanation she had given him earlier was clipped and he knew it.

 

“Yes,” Kagome rubbed her baby's cheek under the blanked, more to comfort herself than the infant. “A little over 8 months ago we fought this demon who was killing woman in a village in the south. He was really strong and came close to killing Inuyasha and me. Inuyasha changed, his demon blood took over.”

 

“As it does when he does not have hold of our father's fang.” Sesshoumaru supplied.

 

“That's the thing, he had Tessaiga. He still changed. I tried to sit him, but nothing would change him back. It was different this time though. He didn't go in a killing spree like he did before. He didn't want blood, he wanted …”

 

“You. He raped you.” He said it so casually as if he were saying, `he gave you a rose' or `he took you out for a nice dinner for two'.

 

“No.” Kagome shook her head. “No, he didn't rape me.” She loved him for all she was worth; he could never do something like that to her. Actually she was happy to have his affection without the normal inhibitions, in the end she felt like it was her who had taken advantage of him. He assured her that it was ok, that he wanted it but was always to shy, but she still felt bad.

 

“After that he started changing more often. It didn't take much to set him off, once it was a low level spider demon, another time a human who he could have killed easily. Each time he would stay that way for longer and longer. A few months later I found out that I was pregnant. He was so worried that one of the times that he changed he would hurt me or someone else that he went to see Toutosai hoping to find a way to make the Tessaiga stronger. Last time adding one of his own fangs did the trick, but this time…” She trailed off.

 

“He didn't come back.” She said quietly.

 

“He is dead.” Sesshoumaru stated simply. It was only logical, he knew that she was pregnant; if he was alive he would have come back. It was no secret that he loved the girl; Sesshoumaru couldn't imagine him leaving her alone in a time like that if he were alive.

 

“Don't say that! Don't you dare say that! He's not dead.” She willed the tears in her eyes that threatened to fall at hearing her worst fears vocalized and put on her brave face.

 

Sesshoumaru couldn't help but to admire her loyalty. He expected no less out of those who followed him. He knew that if anyone told Rin or Jaken that he was dead, they would turn a deaf ear to them until they had his severed head as proof.

 

“We will see.” It was the closest thing that he could bring himself to say that might offer her comfort. He wouldn't tell her that maybe the half-breed was alive, because that would be a lie. And he wouldn't try to convince her that he was dead either, it simply wasn't his place. If she wanted to go about her life waiting for the dead to walk again, it was none of his business.

 

The pup was still suckling and the mother looked content and awake enough to handle the situation from here on out on her own. Sesshoumaru could smell Rin getting closer to the hut as well as Jaken and Ah-uh searching the forest for his whereabouts about half an hour away so he decided it was well past time for him to leave. He still planned on seeking more answers regarding Inuyasha's whereabouts, but that could not be done from here.

 

Again he turned to leave and again he was stopped by the miko.

 

“Sesshoumaru, I was wondering…” Kagome heisted for a moment unsure of how he would respond to what she was about to ask him. She knew it was a sensitive subject and didn't want to upset him.

 

She covered herself and removed the blanket that was covering her and the now sleeping infant. “I was thinking about calling him Gin, but its more silver than white isn't it?” She stroked the back of his white little puppy ears as she spoke.

 

“Normally it is the father's duty to name the child.” Sesshoumaru informed her.

 

“Yah I know. He never said anything about what he would want to name his children, and I don't think that you can really pick out a good name until you have met them.”

 

Seshoumaru nodded his head once in understanding and prayed that she wasn't asking him to name this child. That would be a little too involved for his liking.

 

“I was wondering, if you wouldn't mind…What was your father's name? I've heard him called General, Lord, Master, and Father, but I've never actually heard his name.”

 

Sesshoumaru's eyes widened a fraction for a second before returning to his normal cold expression. That was not at all what he had expected her to ask of him. She had no way of knowing how much this pup looked like his father or how much it had unnerved him earlier.

 

Sesshoumaru actually had to think about it for a moment. It had been over 200 years since he had heard or spoken his father's true name. It felt foreign on his tongue, but it still carried the same weight as it always had. “Touga.”

 

Kagome looked down at the pup in her arms. It felt like a fitting name somehow. It felt right. “Touga.” She repeated. “Would you be offended if I called him that?”

 

“Why?” Sesshoumaru questioned.

 

“I…” She started, but Sesshoumaru cut her off, sensing that she really didn't understand the gravity of his question.

 

“Why would you call him after someone you never met, after someone who his father holds no affection or respect for?” He elaborated through clenched teeth.

 

“He was a great man … demon. And he loved his sons.”

 

“You assume. You have never met him; you have never seen his face or heard his voice. Neither has Inuyasha. It is an insult that you, who defiled his resting place as well as his blood line, would presume to know his heart.” His venomous glare was didn't waver. And neither did Kagome's determined one.

 

Kagome's eyes traveled slowly down the demon lord's body. Sesshoumaru followed her gaze until she stopped at the two swords at his side. Bakusaiga and Tensaiga. Subconsciously his hand went to the hilt of the Tensaiga and he held it, letting it offer him comfort.

 

“Your right. I didn't know him and neither did Inuyasha. But, I didn't have to know him to know that he loved his sons more than anything. Even in death he made sure that they were taken care of and that the lessons he could not teach them himself would be learned. He was a great man, your Father.” She said finally, once again bringing her eyes to meet his.

 

After a long drawn out silence Sesshoumaru spoke, “He will have a lot to live up to should he share a name with my great and terrible father.”

 

Kagome left his eyes to look down at her baby again. “Yes he will. And I'm sure he will too.”

 

Sesshoumaru nodded, then turned on his heel and left.

 

Now, more alone than Kagome could ever remember being, she felt the fingers of dread creeping up on her. She had been alone before, she had been scared before, but this time it was different; this time she had another being that she alone was responsible for.

 

She gently ran her fingers through the fine hairs on the top of her sleeping baby's head. He was so fragile. And he was going to need her for everything. If there was ever a moment in her life that she had to be strong it was now. Kagome's thoughts turned to Jinenji's mother, Shiori's mother, and even her own. She had to be strong like them if they were going to make it. She had no doubt that Inuyasha would come back, it was just a matter of when, and until then she was the soul protector of her baby.

 

Kagome let out a long sigh accompanied with a sad smile, “It's just me and you now buddy. I don't know what we are going to do, but we'll be ok I promise.”