InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The One-Night Stand ❯ Chapter Nine. ( Chapter 9 )

A/N: Here we go! Finally! This plot is moving along quite nicely, if I say so myself.

 

 

The One-Night Stand.

 

Chapter Nine:

 

It was a sunny day; Inuyasha would always remember that. He'd always remember looking over at Kikyo that morning while he was getting dressed for work; she had one bright blue towel wrapped around her sexy frame, and she was busy using another blue towel to dry her sleek, ebony hair. She'd stopped for just a minute, lowering the towel and giving her husband a sweet look. He'd smiled at her very softly, and he took in a deep breath.

 

Sunflowers, mint, and rain - that's what Kikyo Taisho smelled like. That's what filled his nostrils when he took in her scent that early morning. He left for work soon after, and Kikyo continued her morning routine.

 

She dressed in her usual priestess garb before cleaning up around the house; it wasn't very dirty to begin with, but she was a complete neat freak. Inuyasha normally joked about how big a slob he was compared to her. She smiled as she wiped down the kitchen counter with a wet rag.

 

Kikyo stopped cleaning only once that morning to press her fingertips to the bridge of her nose, rubbing it gently. She left the rag sitting on the counter and proceeded into the bedroom. She and Inuyasha had separate dressers, and she had a very nice, elegant wooden vanity sitting across the room from their bed. He never poked around in her vanity; her hanyou husband had always been all about privacy and personal space. It made it very easy to keep secrets from him.

 

She sighed softly as she pulled open the top drawer of the vanity and dug around for barely a second before finding what she was looking for. She smirked a little as she checked each of the four orange pill bottles, making sure of the prescription labels before choosing her poison for the day. She knew her beloved hanyou would've referred to it as “her secret stash.”

 

`If only he knew,' she thought, taking two of the painkillers with a quick swig of water. Kikyo glanced at the clock, murmuring a quick, “Oh, shoot!” as she tossed the bottle back into the drawer, slamming it shut as she hurried through the house. She grabbed her keys, slipped on her sandals, and was out the door and getting into her car.

 

On this sunny day, Kikyo Taisho was late for work.

 

 

Inuyasha was sitting in with Kagome at her doctor's appointment when his cell phone rang suddenly. Raising one eyebrow at the youkai gyno's perturbed glare and, without apologizing, he stood, answering it as he stepped out into the sterile hallway.

 

“Hello?” His tone turned high pitched at the end, making his greeting a question because he didn't recognize the number. `Probably a client,' he reasoned, glancing down the hall at a nurse in pink scrubs.

 

“Mr. Taisho?” a masculine voice asked from the earpiece. “Is this Mr. Inuyasha Taisho?”

 

Shaking off his mild surprise, Inuyasha replied in a pleasant tone, “Yes, sir, who do I have the pleasure of speaking with today?”

 

The voice on the other end sighed deeply before answering, “My name is Kenji Watanabe. I'm with the Tokyo PD. Do you happen to own a 2004 Honda Civic? Blue in color?”

 

Now Inuyasha was confused all over again. “Yes, that's my wife's car. Is everything all right?”

 

“Is your wife Kikyo Taisho?”

 

Inuyasha paled; the image of Kikyo smiling at him with long, wet hair flashed very vividly in his mind. “Yes,” he murmured, barely breathing.

 

Time halted as he listened to the officer speak; they'd found the car flipped, part of a horrific accident at a rural four-way stop not too far from Kikyo's family shrine, where she'd obviously been headed to work. The paramedics pronounced her DOA (dead on arrival), and her death certificate had already been signed by the ER attending. Officer Watanabe finished by informing Inuyasha that he would need to meet him at the morgue at Tokyo Memorial to identify her.

 

His mouth was cotton-dry as he agreed and hung up the phone. He stood there in the hallway, in a daze, until Kagome came out of the doctor's office with a very concerned look on her face. “Inuyasha?” she asked. “Inuyasha, is everything all right?”

 

She touched his shoulder lightly, and he looked up at her, soaking her in. She was getting so huge and round these days; she was getting into her eighth month of pregnancy. She glowed all of the time, and, sometimes, somehow, she looked so much like Kikyo…

 

Then he took a deep breath for the second time that day. Kagome smelled like rosemary and cherries, not sunflowers or mint OR water.

 

She was definitely not Kikyo.

 

He told her; her expression was mortified. Her eyes were filled with sympathy. She told him how sorry she was for his loss. He just nodded and left, still dazed.

 

Kagome watched him walk down the hallway before pulling her own cell phone out of her pocket and dialing Sango. “Hey, girl, what's up?” her best friend greeted her. Kagome chuckled softly at Sango's nonchalant demeanor. “Hey. I need a ride; Inuyasha had to leave suddenly,” she told the kickboxer.

 

“I'll be right there. What happened?”

 

Kagome sighed, shifting her weight a little and looking around for a chair; she was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable, mostly in her back. “I don't know if I should say anything; it's sort of private.”

 

Sango was silent for a moment. Then: “What kind of private?”

 

Kagome groaned a little. “There was an accident this morning. Kikyo's car flipped on her way to work.”

 

Sango gasped loudly. “Oh my Kamis! Is she okay?”

 

Kagome sighed, holding her right side. She was cramping a little, but it didn't seem like a big deal; Mitsukai was probably just moving around or something. “No, Sango,” she answered. “She died.”

 

Sango gasped again, even louder this time. “Oh no!”

 

Suddenly, Kagome cried out as hot, searing pain shot through her sides. Her mind barely registered Sango's bewildered, panicked cries or the fact that her maternity jeans were sopping wet. Her doctor came running out into the hallway, helping her stay on her feet. He called to the pink-scrubbed nurse, who came rushing up. As they helped Kagome down the hall to the OR, Sango rushed out of her house.

 

Mitsukai Taisho had decided that she was ready to enter the world.

 

 

Miroku couldn't believe that he was dashing up the stairs of Yamasaki Youkai General at nearly one on the morning. Sango had called him the moment Kagome had begun crowning; “Miroku, you've GOT to see this! It's so gross that I can't look away!”

 

By the time he made it to the maternity ward on the fourth floor, Kagome was fast asleep, and Mitsukai was down the hall, screaming wildly. She was obviously very aggravated with the whole being cleaned and weighed and measured process.

 

Miroku was astonished as he observed the gorgeous little specimen of neonatism. She looked, strangely enough, exactly like Inuyasha. She had the same pointed nose as her hanyou sire, but the same heart-shaped face as her Miko mother. The fuzz growing on her tiny, soft scalp was the same silver-white color that seemed to pass so easily down the Taisho line. When she opened her eyes to blink up at him, officially calmed down for the night, he saw that they were the same milk chocolatey brown that Kagome and her own mother sported.

 

She was beautiful.

 

Sango and Miroku both sat with Kagome through the wee hours; Sango held Mitsukai, who was swaddled in a soft, pink blanket. The professional kickboxer sighed contentedly as she sat in the chair, holding Mitsukai; the baby girl slept very soundly, definitely living up to her name. Miroku smiled widely as he rubbed his girlfriend's knee affectionately.

 

“I called Kagome's mother,” Sango said she continued to stare down at the sleeping beauty in her arms. “She can't make it here until the morning, but she'll bring Souta and Jii-chan with her.” A bright, toothy smile spread on her face as she murmured to Mitsukai in a cutesy voice, “Yes, did you hear that? Obaa-san will be here soon, and she'll bring Uncle Souta and Jii-chan! Yes, she will! Yes, she will!” She bounced the baby a little, making googoo, gaga noises at her. Miroku chuckled.

 

All of a sudden, Sango dropped the act and got serious, though her broyfriend could still see a slight smile on her lips. “The angel wants to know if her Otou-san will be all right enough to come see her soon,” she murmured so softly Miroku barely heard her. Still bouncing the baby, she looked up at him, her mahogany brown eyes meeting his big, gorgeous violet eyes.

 

The doctor sighed, rubbing his temples. “I'm not completely sure,” he answered, rubbing Mitsukai's tiny hand with his fingertip. “I called and left him a message. I'm not sure when he'll get it or what kind of shape he'll be in when he does.” He shook his head slightly. “I just wonder when he'll be able to get his rear to this beautiful angel so that she can be with her family - her Okaa-san AND her Otou-san.”

 

Both friends knew that Kagome and Mitsukai were practically Inuyasha's only family left.

 

 

Sesshomaru remained calm and emotionless as he sat in the recliner and watched his father pace. Anxiety and tension had filled the room at the strange mixture of good and bad news for their family. The placid former inuyoukai lord could only remember twice in his entire, centuries-long lifetime that he had seen his father pace in such an upset manner. The first time was when Sesshomaru's honored mother Naomi was murdered by enemy youkai; the Inu no Taisho was devastated. The second time was when Inuyasha's mother, Izayoi, got herself killed, nearly taking the unborn boy with her. The Taisho had tried to save her; he fought so hard for that Kamis damned, ignorant, stubborn human bitch.

 

Naomi had been almost the same way; a real firecracker had mothered the Killing Perfection. Neither of his father's women had been even close to resembling a normal, submissive inu bitch.

 

Maybe it ran in the family; `That would more than adequately explain why the halfbreed and I are both so… INTRIGUED by Kagome Higurashi,' he thought.

 

He had passed on the news of his sister-in-law's death and his niece's birth to his father.

 

The Taisho sighed. “Inuyasha must be a wreck. This is supposed to be a happy day, a JOYOUS day - the West has another packmember! Another female for us frigid men to love and cherish…” He trailed off, ceasing his obnoxious pacing, much to Sesshomaru's pleasure.

 

“But we have also lost a packmember today, Father,” Sesshomaru reminded the Taisho.

 

His father sighed. “Yes, my son, we have. Kikyo was very dear to us; she had a good, sweet soul.” He turned suddenly, his gaze piercing Sesshomaru. “Isn't the mother of Inuyasha's new daughter Kagome Higurashi?” he asked his oldest son.

 

Sesshomaru remained silent.

 

The Taisho chuckled, already sure of the answer. “I have not seen Miss Higurashi in a number of years. It is surprising, to say the least, that the young priestess still lives.”

 

Sesshomaru looked up; his father words had both perplexed and startled him. “Father?” he asked.

 

The Taisho chuckled, a faint glimmer visible in his amused, amber eyes. “I am quite sure that you have informed Inuyasha AND Kagome of the supposed betrayal. It is law in our pack that no one may mate or impregnate the intended of a fellow packmember. The penalty is death to both the intended mate and the traitorous packmember.”

 

Sesshomaru was speechless for a few minutes. “She is my FORMER intended,” he answered in a quiet, peaceful voice, “and I refuse to kill the halfbreed over such a blatant misunderstanding.”

 

The Taisho nodded to his son, a new sort of respect building inside him for his eldest pup. “Very good answer, my son. Very good.” He turned away, still contemplating the turn of events. “Very good, indeed.”

 

 

The shrill ring of the house phone pierced through Inuyasha's drunken haze; he started slightly, unable to refrain from knocking the empty glass tumbler off the side of the small, round dining room table. The tall, half-empty sake bottle still sat on the other side of the table, and there were several more empty bottles in the trash. The hanyou raised his head slowly, blinking his eyes rapidly. He stared at the ringing phone, snug on its cradle. Then his dulled, amber eyes moved to look at the answering machine beside the phone after it clicked to life. Miroku's familiar voice filled the common area as he left his message:

 

“Yash, man, I don't know where you are right now, or even HOW you are right now. Sango's just been pushing me real hard to give you a call, to try to get you to pick up the phone…” Miroku sighed heavily over the machine, and Inuyasha tilted his head at it, silent. His ears swiveled a little at a strange noise in the background; it sounded like beeping. “Well, just call us whenever you get the chance. We know you're hurting right now, but…” He stopped suddenly again, and loud, obnoxious crying filled the silent house right then.

 

Inuyasha swallowed, tears filling his eyes at the sound. “I missed it…” he murmured, holding his face in his hands.

 

“Sorry, man,” Miroku started again as the crying grew louder. “I gotta go; the angel's waking up again. Like I was saying, though, we know that you're hurting right now. We also know of a way to make you feel better.” The crying waned a bit, and Miroku said, “Take care… Chichi,” before hanging up.

 

Despite his current drunken stupor, Inuyasha was rattled to his core.

 

He was a widower.

 

And a father.

 

He went immediately to bed to sleep it off. Horrible hangover in the morning or not, he was going to see his little girl.

 

 

Next time: Chapter Ten.

 

A/N: I originally planned on keeping Kikyo alive until Mitsi was at least a year old, but I just figured this would be easier. Especially since it would be pretty hard for her to mistake Kagome's daughter for someone else's kid, ya know?