InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Price of Vengeance ❯ Chapter Thirty: Complications ( Chapter 31 )

Disclaimer: I do not own any of Rumiko Takahashi's characters or stories. This story is for private entertainment purposes only.

A/N: Slightly lemony. (ff.net: Lemon sliced to lime). Thanks for all the reviews! Love 'em. My email address didn't appear on two of the posted sites in the last chappie, so here it is: Inufanasha@aol.com. Thanks go to Amy Fushigiyugi, who captivated me with her "Defy Not the Heart" and spurred me on to some hentai fun. Pallas and Vyncent, thank you very much for your encouragement, and I will proceed! Fyyrrose... O.O ...you might have to do the Naraku one-shot...he's a little o'er the top for me...but I would love to read your version! (He can keep your keys...for now... :P) And Sango WEAK???!!! Puh-leaz! But that's why it's edited on ff.net...so you can avoid any embarrassingly revolting scenes for your reading entertainment. Some hentais can't get enough... ;P

WARNING: Lemon Served! No one under 17, please! (Lime on ff.net)

Chapter Thirty (Complications)

"A woman's breasts are a work of art, and a truly religious man should pay homage to their beauty."

The girl beneath him giggled as his words whispered over her white skin, making the flesh goose-bump in reaction. One rosy nipple caught his eye, and he raised a brow in smug amusement as it puckered, begging for a kiss.

He was ever amenable. He was ever ready to give...and receive...

The giggle turned into a husky laugh, and he hardened further. That laugh was like a siren's call to his blood.

His tongue paid homage to her breasts, and Koharu's laugh turned into a throatier moan.

*Even better...*

The other breast was begging for his attentions, and he was never stingy. Lavishing kisses across the white valley, his mouth whispered over the crest and sought the crown.

"Miroku..."

Her voice could breathe his name in three sexy syllables that delighted his ears. His mouth covered the bud, his tongue teasing it until she clutched him to her, her back arching under his attentions.

"Come here." Her eyes were heavy-lidded, and sexy as hel---well, a religious man shouldn't thank that word---as sexy as...

Her hands distracted him, as they roamed across the arch of his spine and teased over his hips. He flexed in response, and she giggled again.

"Mmmph." Was all he could manage as one hand found him. Fingers slid over his manhood, teasing across to fondle the flesh beneath. That part of him was ever active---sometimes even against his own wishes---and it stirred with interest at the caress.

"Turn..." She said, the hot look in her eyes an undeniable invitation.

She followed him as he eased onto his side, untangled their legs, and then relaxed on his back. Her mouth...oh, that mouth!...was kissing its way along his chest, and he raised one hand to tangle in the long silky waves of her black hair as she teased her way down to his flat belly. He sucked in air as she lightly played along the muscled expanse, and his hips arched, wanting her THERE.

She teased him, making him groan with need as her lips nipped back and forth across the hard planes of his stomach. His eyes closed with the torture, and both hands came up to tangle in her hair, to press lightly in the direction he wanted her to go...DOWN.

He almost came up off of their makeshift bed of various clothing when she finally did take that not-so-subtle hint, and her hot mouth closed over him.

Her hands pressed his hips flat, and his eyes widened as that wide mouth opened fully and took him inside, so that her lips touched the curling hairs at the root. She sucked air in, and he groaned in surprise as it sunk him deeper into that wet heat.

"K...K..." Was all he could manage, and he felt her husky laughter against him, making him groan again.

She began the sweet torture of sliding him in and out of her mouth, and his hands clenched in her hair in reaction. Her tongue was truly inspirational...the girl could work magic with it. He felt it slide over him, teasing the tip as one hand came up to grip the base as her mouth swept up and free.

He hissed a whimper of disappointment as the heat withdrew, and then heaved a groan as it returned.

Her pace quickened, and her hand tightened around him, holding him still for the torture. His back arched as she once again took him deep, the wet heat drawing him in and setting him to moaning in need. He could feel himself gathering, his body tensing, his testicles tightening.

"Koharu..." He managed in a desperate warning, his fingers tightening in her midnight hair.

She just gave him a cattish look out of deep brown eyes, and took him deeper.

His back lurched up as the pleasure intensified into a single pinpoint of fixation, and then exploded into white heat. He yelled his release to the trees above as his hips jerked under her. Koharu kept him with her, riding the shudders of passion through his body until he lay limp beneath her.

Miroku slowly returned to reality, a low groan scraping up from deep within as the wet heat of her mouth left him. His eyes opened, and a warm smile of contentment curved his mouth. Koharu's head rested on his belly, her brown eyes alight with the knowledge of her gift. His fingers disengaged from their tangling hold of her silky black locks and slowly traced the delicate features of her face.

"I love you." She whispered, and he smiled softly at her, his blue eyes darkening as he eyed the white flesh draped over him.

"Come here." He said, his voice husky. His manhood stirred slightly with interest as she slithered over him, the tightened nipples of her breasts sliding over his skin. His hands slid over her shoulders, and down to her trim waist. Summoning strength, he lifted her so that he could take one flowered bud in his mouth. She gasped, and arched into the pleasure...

*~*~*~*~*

"Where's Miroku?" Kagome asked Lady Kaede curiously. Wrapped in a borrowed pink kimono from one of the peasant women, she bent over her red hakama, studiously trying to pierce the cloth with the sharp needle, and not her fingers.

"Ow!"

*Oops.*

"Kagome." Kaede's voice was dry, as the two village girls who had volunteered to help speed the "resizing" process along giggled behind their hands, brown eyes sparkling and cheeks blushing.

*Some things never change.* Kagome bit her lip, eyeing the two girls. Except for some obviously physical differences, the two could be her friends in the modern age. They could be just as light-hearted and giggly as Eri, Yuka or Ayumi.

"Kagome. Try to concentrate on mending the clothing, so that I do not have to concentrate on mending ye." Lady Kaede scolded gently. Kagome blushed slightly, and dropped her eyes back down to her detested task.

"I do wonder, though, where Koharu has gone." Lady Kaede said thoughtfully, as her own needle flashed back and forth in the flickering yellow-orange glow of tapered oil set alight for their task. "She has a deft hand at stitching wounds. I am certain she would prove as useful in stitching clothing."

Kagome let out another muffled noise of frustration as the needle pricked her fingertip again. The girls giggled, and she wanted to glare with the utter frustration of it all, but really, she should be more grateful. The girls didn't have to sit here helping her, and Lady Kaede definitely didn't have to give her her extra clothing. Really, she was getting to be as grouchy as InuYasha!

*Where IS InuYasha for that matter? And Sango?*

Shippo had told her that the group had seperated quite a few days ago. Miroku, Shippo and Kirara had returned to the village to follow a rumor that she was there, and InuYasha and Sango had gone to the Western Lands to rescue her. What was taking them so long to return? Surely InuYasha could sense that she was no longer there!

Miroku had said to give them a few days more, just to make certain that they weren't coming as they---on Kirara---were leaving to go hunt for them, and missed them in the process. Kirara had been acting restlessly, though, and she kept staring off toward the west.

*She must be really missing Sango.* Kagome thought sadly, her fingers smoothing the red fabric between her fingers.

Now, Miroku had been as distracted as Kirara had been restless. She knew that he had been spending quite a bit of time with Koharu, and that worried her too. As much as she liked the courageous girl and felt sorry for her, she still couldn't help wondering how Sango would feel when she knew of Koharu's return in Miroku's life.

There were certainly going to be some surprises when Sango and InuYasha returned to the village. And, if Kagome was honest with herself, there was even a bit of reluctance on her own part to see InuYasha again.

A slow flush crept over her cheeks, and she bent her head, as if inspecting her stitches closer. What would InuYasha think when he saw her again? He would certainly be able to tell that she wasn't a...

She made a mew of half-sadness, half-frustration as the needle pricked her thumb this time. She stuck the offending digit in her mouth, and batted the tears back, telling herself that it was only the pain from her pricked finger, and not the pain of knowing that InuYasha might be disappointed in her.

"Lady Kagome?" One of the peasant girls stood up and knelt down beside her, her hands reaching for the red hakama. "I am finished with the kimono. Perhaps...?" She smiled softly. Kagome blinked back the wetness from her eyes, and nodded, unable to speak.

The girl took the needle and cloth, and went back to seat herself by the other peasant girl. Kagome found her voice, and said, "Um, thank you."

The girl gave her a slight bow of her head in acknowledge, her hands already busy pulling Kagome's haphazard stitches out of the cloth.

*I can't seem to do anything right nowadays.* Kagome felt like sniffling. She looked up, feeling the old miko's attention on her, and blushed.

Kaede gave her an unreadable gaze, and then stood up herself. She folded the white kimono---a second shirt for Kagome that she had insisted she take---in her hands and gave it to the second peasant girl. "Hiroko, I believe ye and ye sister can handle the rest of it. I thank thee for ye help."

"Certainly, Lady Kaede." The young girl blushed at the implied compliment. It was an honor to help the old priestess, and it was only fair, as Kaede had helped their youngest sister heal from that bad sickness last winter. Both girls bowed as Kaede laid a calloused hand on Kagome's shoulder and nodded to the darkening sunset outside.

"Kagome? I think I need ye to help me bring in some water."

Kagome bit her lip, flushing again. She knew that Kaede wanted to talk, and the water was just an excuse. She dutifully followed the old miko, stopping only to retrieve the two buckets that stood empty by the door.

Kaede placed her hands behind her bent back, and walked slightly ahead of her as they wandered over to the fresh spring the old miko preferred to draw water from. The path was deserted at this time of day---most of the villagers were inside their huts, making dinner or tending children. They didn't speak until they reached the spring. Kagome knelt down beside the small, bubbling pool, and dipped the first bucket in, feeling the water swirl over the lip and increasing the weight of the vessel as it filled.

Kaede gave a long sigh, her time-worn face set in sharp profile as the last orange rays of sunset touched it. Turning from the beautiful display of pink-tinged clouds and purpling sky, the priestess gingerly settled herself on the grass beside Kagome.

Kagome pulled the full bucket from the water, and sat back on her knees. She kept her eyes on the spring, watching the lazy swirls of the water as bubbles rang up from the slight fissure beneath that gave the small, quiet pool its existence.

"Ye are worried, child." Kaede's voice wrapped around her, soothing her.

"Yes." She said simply, fixated on the pool.

"About InuYasha?"

Kagome shot Kaede a slight frown, and then looked down at her hands, clasped in her lap.

"What will he do, Kaede? When he returns and knows I..."

"That I do not know, child." The old priestess raised her face, the glimpse of a glowing firefly catching the corner of her eye.

Kagome did not find any comfort in the blunt words, honest though they were.

Kaede sighed. "For all that we feel that we know InuYasha's true mind, he can still be an enigma."

Kagome bit her lip, and there was silence between them for a long, long time. They both watched as the sun set in its last glory of light and as the twilight deepened from light purple to darker blue, to match the monkish robes Miroku wore. The moon, hanging just past full in the sky, lightened to silver as the night's darkness grew.

"I think ye worry about the wrong things, child. What will be, will be." The old miko's voice came out of the darkness. Kagome jumped slightly in surprise, her mind had been on other things.

"What do you mean?" She turned her head. Kaede's form looked dark, the white of her kimono and the long, grey hair silvered in the soft moonlight. Fireflies danced around them, their glows winking in and out of existence. The night was slowly coming to life around them, but Kagome was too distracted to notice.

"Ye could be pregnant." The priestess was blunt.

Kagome blinked in shock. A creeping sense of dread filled her mind, and one of her small hands came to lie across her flat stomach, her fingers tightening in the faded pink fabric of the borrowed kimono.

"W...What?" Her voice shook.

"I must speak plainly, so forgive me, child." Kaede stirred slightly. "Ye told me that ye lay with the Lord many times that night."

Kagome bowed her head, her hand dropping from her stomach to tangle in the thick grass beside her. She clutched at it, suddenly afraid.

*I never even thought about it! We didn't use protection, and...*

Memories flashed through...memories that had not clouded from the old miko's sacred intervention, but that no longer hurt her to think about. Kaede had succeeded in taking the grieving sting out of those memories---especially from that last time that SesshouMaru had used her so harshly. Regret had replaced the pain, more regret for InuYasha's coming pain than her own, and a bit of wonder that she herself had not been so unwilling, when all was said and done.

There was also a bit of lost sadness, as if she had known something precious for a few moments, that she had touched something quite lovely, and that it had then been snatched back away from her.

It was all too new and confusing, and she didn't know if it could be something that any girl might feel after her first time. It was not something she could talk about with Kaede, no matter how wonderful and understanding the old miko could be. She just wouldn't understand.

But her little worries were all swept aside by the sudden fear Kaede had just handed her.

"Kaede...c-could you tell? W-Would you know?" Kagome asked, a hitch in her soft voice. There was nothing like home-pregnancy tests here in the feudal age, that she knew of. But Kaede was a healer, and a miko. Perhaps...

A worn palm came to rest on her cheek, bringing her face up, although neither woman could see the other in the purpling darkness. "Aye, child. Normally."

Kagome froze on the third word. "N-Normally?"

"I have the training, and normally I could use my small powers to detect the growth of life in a woman's womb. But there are...complications." Kaede's hand curved over her cheek, offering the touch of comfort in a suddenly frightening world.

"What do you mean? Please, Kaede, tell me!" Kagome's hand came up to touch the gnarled fingers of the old priestess, and her voice was hoarse with desperation.

"I am a healer, child. I could not harm life."

"What does that have to do..."

"The sacred energy that we use, as mikos, is sometimes used to purify youkai." Kaede's voice was soft and heavy, as if she feared what she spoke to Kagome.

"Purify..."

"If ye had life in ye, child, it would be, at least in part, of youkai blood." Kaede's gnarled hand moved to hold Kagome's shaking fingers. Kagome felt cold and scared, and very much alone, even though the old miko was right next to her. "To use the sacred powers could harm the life of the child in ye."

*What is she saying?*

"There is, child, a chance, that ye might NOT be carrying." Kaede's fingers tightened in hers in reassurance, before sighing. "But ye cannot risk harming that little life---even if it is only a possibility. I cannot use my own powers to check, child, and ye must not use ye own until ye are certain that ye do not carry life."

Kagome shivered, frightened tears gathering in her eyes. A sense of overwhelming helplessness filled her as the old priestess's words sunk in. A child...if she was pregnant with a child, it would at least be half of SesshouMaru's, and would carry youkai blood. If what Kaede said was true, than her own purification powers, as well as Kaede's, could potentially harm the baby. Kaede would not risk any harm to even the faint possibility of a life, and Kagome could understand why.

All life was precious...even life that was not yet certain...

She let out a choked sob, and Kaede's arms wrapped around her. Kagome's forehead came to rest in the broad shoulder, and she breathed deeply, trying to stave off the fears that threatened to tear her apart. Kaede held her like a baby, her worn hands patting over her back, and Kagome felt the tears burning in her eyes as she thought about how the old miko held her. Kaede spoke soft words into her ear, whispered words of a mother's comfort, and Kagome let her control go, her tears dampening the white fabric beneath her as her body shook with the sudden realization of what all this might mean to her...to InuYasha...to HIM, the Taiyoukai...

It was some time before she could calm herself, and then the old miko still held her, speaking comfort and reassurance, empty promises that hurt Kagome to hear. She finally, only relaxed as exhaustion and inevitability filled her.

But a sudden, intense fear had her breaking away from the old woman's embrace, and she let out a shuddering breath as she asked hoarsely, "Kaede...what about...when you took the pain from me? Will it...could it..."

"I do not know, child." The priestess was bluntly honest, and Kagome let out a hoarse sound as the new worry stabbed through her. Her stomach knotted with fear, and she wondered suddenly if the possible life inside of her could be ended before she even knew if there WAS any life...

Kaede hastened to reassure her. "I do not think it would. What I did was only to take the emotion from you, and I did nothing to you, physically, to achieve that end. But I should caution ye, that I am not certain. I have never known of a miko carrying a youkai child, and I do know what further intervention might prove harmful. If I use my power to check for life, then I would be directly affecting the babe. And ye, child...if ye were to use your powers, there would be far more risk of harm being done. Thy body holds the babe, and if ye were to use even a bit of ye power, ye might directly harm the babe."

Kagome drew in a shuddering breath, her mind whirling with the dreaded possibilities. She remembered, suddenly, how the sacred energy had burned through her on the day that SesshouMaru had captured her. She recalled how her anger and fear for InuYasha's safety, her helpless frustration over their situation, and how the energy had burned in her, yearning to be unleashed. It had echoed throughout her entire being---her soul almost using her body as a gateway to call the sacred energy that had cleared the woods of fighting youkai. She recalled how she had fainted after that sudden releasing of power, and how she had come to, weary and exhausted and barely able to move.

And she remembered, shivering, how that "energy wave", as Miroku called it, had killed the youkai for nearly a quarter of a mile around them. If the power, raw and unfocused in her release, had done THAT, what could it do to...

She let out a soft cry, her hands instinctively coming to cradle the flat expanse of her stomach. "Kaede!"

The old miko laid a gentle hand on both of hers, squeezing gently. "Ye worry before time, child. I only meant to caution ye. There are some strong doubts that ye could even BE pregnant. The Lord has lived a long time, and would not be incautious. It is well known to me how he despises humans, and how he feels his family's honor was tainted when his father took InuYasha's mother to wife, and she bore him a child. Youkai, especially strong youkai, do not spread their seed freely."

Kagome let out a gasp when she heard InuYasha's name. *InuYasha! How would he react if...*

Kaede cut into her thoughts. "We will not know until ye cycle starts. Do ye remember when last ye had it?"

Distracted, Kagome bit her lip. Thinking hard, she almost whimpered her frustration at her own carelessness. She could not really remember the last day that she had had her period, and it made her blush that Kaede could even mention it. But she had to be practical about this...if she WAS pregnant, than they would certainly be talking about a lot more familiar subjects than just her body's natural cycles! And she was from the modern age, when girls talked about it all the time...well, they were supposed to, anyway. Over the last three years, she hadn't really spent much time with her friends all that much, what with popping in and out only for tests and finals at school. They all had grown further and further apart over the years, no matter how much her three closest girl friends had rejoiced when she DID show up to school!

*Focus, Kagome!* She told herself sternly, even as her mind darted from one subject to another in exhausted bewilderment. Kaede waited patiently, and Kagome had to finally say with some reluctance, "I can't remember. It was a few weeks before..."

"Before that night." Kaede finished, letting out a long sigh. "Very well, then, it cannot be helped. We must only bide our time, and wait and see." She squeezed Kagome's hands once more, and then rose slowly to her feet.

Kagome let out a mew of frustration at her own carelessness, and Kaede patted her shoulder in passing as the old miko bent by the spring to fill the second bucket. Kagome blinked, her attention suddenly focusing more on the mundane. The world had darkened completely to night around them, and even the fireflies had forsaken them. She shivered, looking at the shadows that surrounded the small spring. Some of the worst battles they had fought had been at night, when youkai were more active, or at least seemed to be. She felt suddenly weak and defenseless---a sensation she hadn't really felt for some time, not since she had learned to fill her arrows with sacred energy, and could kill a demon with one shot.

She couldn't even risk that now.

"Come, child."

Kaede had calmly picked up both buckets, the contents swaying slightly at her movement, while Kagome sat lost in her own thoughts. Kagome started, suddenly feeling guilty. Here she was, mulling after things that might not even happen, and poor, old Kaede was hauling those heavy buckets of water around!

Jumping up, Kagome took the wooden buckets from the protesting miko. "Let me, Kaede. I know how tired you get after a long day." Kaede let out a dry grumble, but handed them over without further protest.

"Ye are a strong child, Kagome." The old miko said. "Do not fret ye self with things that might not happen."

"Yes, Lady." Kagome meant only to mouth the words, but she somehow found comfort in them. Kaede was right. She couldn't keep dragging herself around in trepidation and despair. There was plenty of work to be done...and plenty of other things to worry about! Her mom had once said that she shouldn't worry before the chicks were hatched, and Kagome actually wanted to giggle at that sudden memory---though why she should suddenly want to laugh when she really felt like crying even mystified her.

But Mom was right.

Only time would tell.