InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Lucky Ones ❯ Chapter 13 ( Chapter 13 )

The Lucky Ones

By Terri Botta

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. Sole copyright belongs to Viz and Rumiko Takashi. I'm poor so don't sue.

Rating: R for later chapters.

Pairing: Inuyasha/Kagome, Miroku/Sango

Summary: Sometimes Fate hands you a gift you never thought you'd ever get, and it's up to you to accept it for what it is.

Email feedback to: tci100@psu.edu

Webpage: http://www.wordsmiths.net/Botta

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Chapter Thirteen

Kagome and her mother went to a department store first. There Kagome bought three nursing bras from the maternity section, ignoring the shocked and concerned looks on the faces of the saleswomen when she opted to wear one out of the store thus proving that she was the baby's mother and not the older, more proper, woman with her. The bras were a far sight different from her usual lacy underwires, but she needed the extra support. It didn't help that her mother told her that her breasts would probably not shrink much even after she stopped making milk. Ordinarily a girl would be happy to increase her bust size, but in this case Kagome hoped they would get at least a little smaller because they were heavy and threw her balance off.

Yukio stayed quiet and only seemed to get fussy when they got close to the perfume and cosmetic department so she avoided it and went directly to infants-wear. There she picked out two types of diapers: a pack of the disposable kind and a pack of the new cloth diapers that were supposed to be as good as disposables. She didn't want to bring disposable diapers to the Feudal Era because she knew how polluting they were. She also got a diaper bag with lots storage pockets for everything a baby needed.

Her mother pointed out a number of cradles and cribs but she refused them all. She did let her mother buy a car seat that doubled as a bassinet, however, for times when she would have to take Yukio in a car. The item was too big for them to carry so they arranged to have it delivered. She also bought two new baby blankets, a teething ring, and a couple of bibs.

Their next stop was a store that specialized in baby and infant clothing and needs. There she stocked up on new clothes for Yukio, picking out a couple of one-pieces and some shirt and pant sets, and socks for his little feet. Then she came across a red t-shirt with a black and white dog head on it that said "BIG DOG" in English, and she just had to have it. She bought it and put it on him while they were still in the store. It was way too big for him, but she knew he'd grow into it soon enough.

Everywhere they went people stared and ogled at her and Yukio. Women constantly wanted to `see the baby,' cooing at him and marveling at his silver hair and golden eyes. He didn't seem to mind being stared at and talked to, although he was getting a little cranky from being constantly jostled and woken up. There was one particularly obnoxious woman with too much perfume and jewelry whom Yukio growled at when she started saying what a cute baby he was and `coo-chee-coo-chee-coo.' His little growl was so cute that Kagome wasn't able to stop him before it was too late. The woman, heedless of the hanyou pup's warning, touched him and scratched him under his chin so he bit her. The woman gasped as she snatched her hand back and stared at Kagome who winced and let out a string of `gomen-nasai's and `bad baby! we don't bite!'s even though she was secretly proud of him for defending himself. The woman sniffed haughtily at her and stormed off. Kagome wasn't sorry to see her go.

By the time they had finished at the baby store, it was approaching noon and both Yukio and her breasts were telling her it was time to find a quiet place to nurse him. There was a park with a playground and a picnic area with trees not far from where they were, so she headed for that. They passed an obento shop on the way and her mother bought two for their lunch.

Once in the park, Kagome chose a spot a good distance away from the playground and tables, sequestered in a tiny copse of four trees and sat down with her back against the trunk of one as her mother sat next to her. She pulled Inuyasha's haori from the strap of the baby sling and draped it over her shoulders. Yukio, showing his intelligence and development again, saw the red fabric, knew what it meant and began to get excited. She laughed softly and tickled his belly as she took off her jacket, opened her shirt and drew down the nursing flap on the new bra. Then she took him out of his blanket and brought him to her breast. He began to feed immediately, making little happy burbles as he sucked, and she cradled him with one arm as she ate her own lunch.

"It's a beautiful day," her mother sighed.

Kagome looked at the blue sky and sunshine, and had to agree, although she also had to agree with Inuyasha that modern day Tokyo was horribly noisy and smelly compared to the sweet breezes and soft forest sounds of the Sengoku Jidai.

`Inuyasha… he looked so forlorn and sad when we left him behind this morning.'

"Kagome…" her mother began and she knew the time of `The Talk' had come. She turned her head to look at her mom, waiting for her to continue.

"I'm sorry about yesterday."

"You should have trusted me. I wouldn't lie to you about something like that," she answered.

"I know, and you're right, I should have. I have no excuse for why I behaved the way I did."

Kagome looked at Yukio, thinking about how she would feel if she believed her baby was in danger. "You were trying to protect me. I understand."

"Do you?"

She nodded. "Yes, I do, but… But this is my life, Mama, and I have to make these choices."

"I know that, but do you really understand the choices you are making, Kagome? You're not even seventeen."

"I know I'm young, but back in the Feudal Era I'd have been married off the moment I had my first period."

"And had your first child by the age of fifteen, no doubt," her mother agreed. "But you can't compare this time and that one. Don't you know what you are doing to your future?"

"I have no idea what my future is, Mama. I'm different. I live two lives. One here and one there. I can't just walk away from that."

"I'm not asking you to. I just want you to think about the consequences," her mother argued.

"Like what? Like the pitying looks I got when those saleswomen found out Yukio was mine and not my baby brother? Or the trouble I'm going to have tomorrow and the next few days when I have to go to school, but somehow have to find a way to feed him? Not to mention how much trouble I'd be in if someone at school found out I was nursing a baby. Do you think any of them would believe I'm still a virgin? They'd all look at me like that doctor did yesterday. And that's just here. How about the prejudiced people in the Feudal Era who hate hanyous and want to kill Yukio, and Inuyasha, and me? What about the youkai who hate hanyous? They'll try to kill us too," she replied, switching Yukio to the next nipple.

She found she liked the new bra. It hid her fairly well so she didn't bother to cover herself up with Inuyasha's haori. Besides, where they were was quite secluded by Tokyo standards and there was no one nearby.

Her mother shook her head. "So much danger and violence. Kagome, how can you stand it?"

Kagome shrugged. "I just do. And I'm not alone. I have my friends, and Inuyasha. Inuyasha protects me."

"Inuyasha is in love with you."

"I know," she answered simply. Even though he'd never said it, she still knew.

"You know what he wants from you."

She shook her head. "No I don't. I don't know. I don't even think he knows. Right now he's saying we'll stay together and raise Yukio. But he made a promise to Kikyou and she intends to make him keep it. I don't know what he is going to do when he remembers that."

"This Kikyou, she's…"

"The undead miko Urasue resurrected. The one whose soul I have… or had. I'm not sure anymore. She's also Inuyasha's first love. Fifty years ago Naraku tricked them into betraying each other and he blames himself for it," she explained, but she knew she'd already told her mother all of this so there was no need to go into any detail.

"She's also the one you saved?"

Kagome nodded. "Yeah." She looked down at Yukio who looked up at her with shining golden eyes as he nursed contentedly, his hat had fallen off revealing his puppy ears which she rubbed lovingly before putting the hat back on. "I don't know what she is going to do when she finds out about Yukio."

"What do you think she will do?"

"I'm not sure. I mean… it would look like I took her life even more wouldn't it? She was supposed to be with Inuyasha and live her life with him, but then Naraku tricked them and well… Now I think she sees me as the interloper who took her man," she sighed. "Actually, she's all but said that to me on a number of occasions."

"But if I remember what you told me of this story, Kikyou wanted Inuyasha to become human."

"Yes. She wanted him to use the Shikon no Tama to become human so they could live their lives together," she confirmed with a sad nod.

"But Inuyasha isn't human. Inuyasha is a half-demon," Mama pointed out.

"Yes, but the Shikon no Tama would have made him human if he'd wished on it."

Kagome saw a pensive look come to her mother's face.

"Why did Kikyou want Inuyasha to become human?"

"So they could be together."

"Why couldn't they be together with him as he was?"

"Because she was a miko and he's a hanyou, and hanyous are impure because they have demon blood."

"I see… So… you're telling me that the boy who would die for you and frets over you and takes care of you and loves you with everything he has is impure and unworthy of a miko's love? And you're telling me that this innocent, helpless baby suffers the same impurity?" Mama commented.

Kagome frowned. "Sick, isn't it."

"It's more than sick, Kagome. It's pathetically sad."

"I know."

"Kikyou didn't love Inuyasha. She couldn't have if she wanted him to change like that for her; if she thought he was impure."

"I know," she whispered back, lifting Yukio to her shoulder to burp him because he was finished, and putting her clothing back in order.

She checked his diaper and changed him, using one of the new disposables, while Mama watched quietly. Then she let him stay on the blanket, looking up at her from his position on his back. He reached for her so she gave him a finger to hold and he grasped it with both hands.

"What are you going to do, Kagome?" her mother finally asked.

"I don't know. Live, I guess. I'll just take it one day at a time, Mama, and do the best I can. It's really all I can do. I don't think further ahead than the next shard or the next test. Speaking of tests… we should get back. I have to study and it's getting late. If we're not back by one Inuyasha will come tracking us."

Mama giggled. "I know he will."

Kagome took off Inuyasha's haori and folded it back up as she put her jacket back on. Then she picked Yukio up, gave him a kiss and a snuggle before wrapping him in his blanket and putting him in his sling. Standing, she slipped the strap over her head and under her arm so he was against her body, safe and secure, and looked at her mother.

Mama stood as well, gathered the empty bento boxes and their shopping bags, and together they walked towards home.

"Do you forgive me?" Mama asked suddenly, as she put the empty lunch boxes into the public trash can.

"Yes," Kagome answered.

"Thank you."

"You're my mother. You didn't mean to hurt me. You were scared and thought you were doing the right thing. Just… just don't do it again, okay?"

Her mother smiled at her. "I won't. I'll make new mistakes instead of repeating old ones. And so will you."

"I know, and I'll come running to you when I mess up with him and don't know what to do."

Mama laughed softly. "I'll buy you your own sake when you're twenty."

"Why twenty?"

"Because then you'll be of age."

"Heh, there's no drinking age in the Sengoku Jidai," she pointed out teasingly.

"Then you can get your own sake there."

Kagome giggled and felt her heart get lighter. Things between her and her mother would be okay. They walked together, teasing and laughing, all the way back to the shrine.

Inuyasha was waiting for them at the top of the shrine steps when they returned, his arms crossed and his face irritated.

"You're late."

She looked at her watch and saw that it read 1:03. "By 3 minutes."

"Feh! It was a good thing I could smell you, otherwise I would have come hunting."

She gave him a fond look and a pat. "Did you eat lunch?"

"I made ramen."

"Is Jii-chan back yet?" Mama asked as they crossed the shrine grounds.

"No, not yet."

"So you were alone all morning?" the older woman questioned, her voice slightly apologetic.

"Keh! Like I care," he snapped back a little too quickly.

Kagome, reading his mood and knowing that he did care about being left all by himself, rubbed his back as they walked. He didn't acknowledge her gesture, but he did lean back a little, into her touch, and she smiled to herself.

`You were lonely, weren't you, Inuyasha?'

Together they entered the house and went into the kitchen.

"You ate SIX cups of ramen?!" Kagome squeaked, seeing the empty containers in trash.

"What? I was hungry!"

Mama just laughed and shook her head, putting the shopping bags down on the table.

"Has a delivery boy arrived yet?" she asked.

"Huh?" Inuyasha answered.

"We had some things sent here while we were shopping. Have they arrived?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "No one's come yet. There were some people who came to visit the shrine, but I left them alone and they went away."

Mama nodded that she understood.

"I'm sure he'll arrive later this afternoon then."

"How was the pup?" Inuyasha asked, focusing on the sleeping bundle in the sling, nose sniffing to reassure himself that the pup's scent was normal.

Kagome giggled. "He was fine, but you're not going to believe what he did."

"What did he do?"

"Well, there was a woman who had too much perfume on and she wanted to see him, but he started to growl at her. I heard this little `gggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr' coming from him and at first I didn't realize that he was warning her off."

"Heh, good for him. She probably stank."

Kagome crinkled her nose in recollection. "She did smell strongly, and I know he didn't like it when we got close to the perfumes in the store. But that's not all. She wouldn't leave him alone, so when she touched him he bit her!"

Inuyasha chuckled and rubbed Yukio's head, knocking off the hat again and waking him.

"That's my pup. You tell those stinking humans to leave you alone, right?"

"Hey, I'm a stinking human, y'know."

He blinked at her. "No you're not. You don't pour false scent on you."

"I wear perfume sometimes," she reminded.

"Not a lot."

She could see he was itching to hold Yukio so she took him out of his sling and handed him over. It was time for her to study anyway. Inuyasha saw the hint of red under the blanket and unwrapped him to see what it was.

"Eh? What is this?" he asked, seeing the red shirt with the dog on it.

Kagome blushed. "Ummm, it's a new shirt I bought him. Isn't it cute?"

Inuyasha screwed up his nose and blinked. "It's a got a dog on it."

"I know. It's perfect."

"What's this funny writing?"

"Ummm… that's English."

"English. You take tests in English," he commented.

She nodded. "Yes."

"What's it say?"

She gulped. "Umm… it says big dog."

He raised an eyebrow. "Big dog?"

"You don't think so?"

Yukio burbled and yipped. Inuyasha gave a little growl back, bringing the baby up to his face.

"I don't care what your funny kimono says, I'm the big dog around here, pup. You're just a little whelp. Got it?"

Yukio grabbed his nose and squeezed, making Inuyasha yowl and pull his head away. He growled at the baby, but the infant just laughed.

"Keh. Spoiled whelp," he snorted, but tucked him close to his shoulder.

Kagome just giggled. "I think he gets more like you every day. You're a bad influence."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he complained.

"He's becoming rude, bad tempered and selfish," she teased, making sure Inuyasha knew she wasn't serious by rubbing his ears.

"Feh. That's why I'm Oyaji," he said, closing his eyes as she rubbed.

"Well, Oyaji, I have to study. Yukio's all yours now," she told him stepping back and ignoring his sigh when she stopped rubbing.

"Has he been changed?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes. I changed him when I fed him at lunch."

"Okay then."

"If you need me, I'll be upstairs in my room."

He nodded. "Okay."

She gave Yukio a little kiss and nuzzled Inuyasha's chin, then left them in the kitchen with her mother.

All was quiet for hours. She sat at her desk, going over the material for the test the next day and no one disturbed her. She took a break around 4 to change and feed Yukio, then returned to her studies until her mother called her down to dinner. She was memorizing some things for the test when there was a knock on the door.

Thinking it was her mom coming to tell her dinner was ready, she called back, "I'll be right down!"

There was no answer, but her door opened and she turned to see Inuyasha standing in the doorway holding Yukio. His face was worried.

"What is it?" she asked, responding to his concern with her own.

"His scent's changed."

She blinked, trying to figure out the meaning of Inuyasha's words. Then her eyes opened wide.

"Oh no! Tonight's…"

"His human night. Yeah, I think so," he replied.

She looked at her calendar, the one she'd bought precisely because it had the moon phases on it. "Tonight's the full moon."

Inuyasha nodded. "At least we don't share the same night."

"That's good."

"Yeah, but he's getting really fussy. I think he can feel the change coming and he doesn't understand."

She got up and came over to them, rubbing Yukio's back and cooing to him. Inuyasha had him against his shoulder and he was whimpering softly.

"Shhhhh, baby. Otou and Kaa-san are here. You'll be alright."

"He'll probably transform at sunset and be human until sunrise. His youkai scent started to fade at dusk."

"At least we know when it happens now, and we're here in my time so he's safe," she noted, offering some comfort to the obviously worried adult hanyou.

"Yeah."

"Inuyasha, what's wrong?" she asked. `Why are you so concerned about this? What aren't you telling me?'

He shook his head. "Nothing. It's just… He's getting really upset and I don't think he's going to settle down. It's like he's trying to fight the change."

"But he can't stop it."

"I know. I just don't know how quiet he'll be. He'll interrupt your studying."

"We'll just have to see, won't we?"

"Yeah," he admitted with a sigh.

Just then, Mama called them down to dinner and they went to eat. During dinner, full sunset fell and Inuyasha was right. Yukio's silver hair darkened to black, and his eyes turned dark brown. His ears moved down to the sides of his head, and his claws faded to human nails. And he began to cry. And cry. And cry. And cry.

"He's scared out of his wits," Inuyasha explained when Yukio had been at it for almost two hours. The adult hanyou was walking him, rocking him, and trying to let Kagome study but her baby's cries were too distracting. "He feels cut off. He can't smell. He can't hear. He can't see. His body feels completely different. He doesn't understand what's happening to him and we can't make it go away."

He got worse when Inuyasha took him out of Kagome's sight, or rather when he took Kagome out of Yukio's sight.

"Kagome, I'm sorry. I know you need to study but he won't stop crying if he can't see you," he said, coming back into her bedroom after trying to take him out.

"It's okay, really."

"It's not. You have to study and he's distracting you."

"I'll survive."

After a while, he seemed to settle, or at least run out of steam, and Kagome found that if he could tell she was close by, he was a little calmer.

"I wonder if that's because he lost his mother. He thinks I've gone away and won't come back," she commented.

Inuyasha nodded, sitting with Yukio on her bed, rocking him slightly. "When he has his hanyou powers, he can smell you nearby and knows you're around even if he can't see you. Without the nose, he thinks you've abandoned him."

"Poor little baby. Otou and Kaa-san won't ever leave you," she assured him, nuzzling his little cheek and kissing him.

He sniffled and reached for her so she took him into her arms. He worried at her neck and gripped her shirt tightly in both fists, but appeared to be calming down. That is, until Inuyasha went out of his sensing range to use the bathroom. Then he started fussing again.

"See, there's Outo," Kagome reassured him, turning Yukio so he could see his father when he returned.

Upon seeing Inuyasha, Yukio stopped whimpering, and just looked about with watery eyes.

"Heh, looks like he wants both of us," Inuyasha said, coming over and rubbing the baby's head.

"So it seems," she agreed.

Finally, they devised a plan using extra pillows for Kagome to study on the bed with Yukio between her and Inuyasha. Assured that both his parents were there with him, and worn out from all the crying, he eventually slipped into a restless sleep and both Inuyasha and Kagome breathed sighs of relief.

"Is it that bad for you?" she asked Inuyasha suddenly. "Being human?"

He looked away, thinking, as if trying to find the words to describe what it was like.

"The worst is the loss of scent," he replied. "You humans can't understand how important it is to us. Smell tells us so much and when we don't have it… it's like being blind. I remember when I was a little whelp. My mother was so protective of me on the moonless nights, and I would cling to her because without my nose she was harder to find. After she died, I remember being terrified without her; vulnerable and helpless. I'd hide so no one would discover my secret. Mother always told me to never let anyone know when my nose stopped working and my hair and eyes turned black. Even after Sesshoumaru came for me, I still hid on those nights."

"Wait, wait. Sesshoumaru came for you?"

Inuyasha frowned at the bad memories but nodded. "Yeah. After Mother died and Oyaji was killed. Myouga-jiji told him I was orphaned and he came to do his duty as my older brother."

A sneer came to his face and she saw him clench a fist.

"How long were you with him?" she asked, honored that he was sharing with her.

"Until I could take care of and protect myself, which was as soon as I could get strong enough. He hated me as much as I would come to hate him."

"But you didn't hate him right away."

He shook his head. "No. The hate would come later. At first, I was just grateful for someone to look after me. I was all alone and both my parents were dead. I thought that he would teach me..." He paused for several moments before continuing in a resigned voice, "My brother taught me many things. The first was that I was a hanyou and less than the dirt he walked on. The second was how to hate."

Kagome took his hand and held it tightly, trying to offer whatever comfort he would allow. He squeezed her hand briefly then let it go.

"You should study. Your test is tomorrow."

"I know, and I am. It's just…"

"It was a long time ago. And I survived." He looked down at Yukio sleeping between them. "And this one won't suffer like I did. He has us to take care of him."

"Yes."

"He'll have what I didn't, and it'll be okay. That's good enough, isn't it?"

She nodded, tears forming in her eyes, but she blinked them away. "Yeah, it is."

Giving his hand another squeeze she returned to her books. She studied until she was too tired to stay awake, then lay down with Yukio against her chest. Inuyasha stayed on the bed, but remained sitting up and awake. He kept vigil over them all night long.