InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Shikon no Tama ❯ Chapter Eighteen ( Chapter 18 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: I do not now, nor have I ever, owned any part of Inuyasha or his world. This is a work of fanfiction made entirely for the fans of Inuyasha to enjoy. This story is based off of Inuyasha characters that I do not own.

This is also a work of fiction. Any simularities to any real person, dead or alive, is completely coincidental.


Chapter Eighteen:

Today, the demon and priestess were near the stream which flowed along the length of the village. A small wooded forest lay on the other side of the stream. This was where the two were sitting now.

Tomo opened his eyes and looked at the priestess. To him, it was obvious why the hanyou had fallen in love with her. Though she had somewhat of a short temper, she was very pretty. Her personality was a great commodity as well, when she wasn't angry. And she was smart. He offered her a smile as she opened her own eyes.

"When you close your eyes, I want you to picture the world around you," he whispered.

"What are we doing?" she asked.

"Learning control through meditation," he answered.

She threw him a puzzled glance. "But, I already know how to meditate. How is this going to help?" she questioned.

He sighed and looked at the bag of rice which was tied to a tree a few feet away. "If you can't hit that sack of rice instead of myself or a tree, then you don't know how to meditate properly. Meditation is not just closing your eyes and praying for things to happen. It's about focus. About seeing things that cannot otherwise be seen. About feeling things that would not ordinarily be felt. Eyes are great decievers. So, it is up to our other senses to understand how things work and what truth lies beneath the surface."

She nodded slowly and closed her eyes. "So, what do I do?"

"As before, just listen," he told her. "Don't talk. Don't move. Keep your breathing even and let nature and the world around you touch you."

Kagome placed her hands on her knees and did as he told her. Soon the sounds of nature and the village took over. Birds chirping, the water gurgling, children laughing. She could even hear Inuyasha cursing. A soft smile played on her lips.

"No," Tomo reprimanded. "Don't smile. Stay focused. Relaxed."

Kagome stopped smiling and concentrated on the sound of Inuyasha's voice. She could almost feel the emotion behind the words. The anger, the frustration. She could feel the raw emotion there. In her mind's eye, she was able to picture him standing there, using a human sword. Then, she heard the clash of steel on steel. He was angry, and she knew it. Frustrated that he couldn't get the move correct. He was tired and hungry, yet these idiots were pushing him. She could even smell the musky scent of his sweat as well as the wild, untamed smell of his flesh.

Startled, she opened her eyes, breaking the connection. She stared at Tomo, who just smiled. "What did you see, my lady?" he asked her.

"Inuyasha," she whispered, puzzled by his question, "he's training in the village."

Tomo nodded. "Very good. Often times when we mediate, we can see our lovers and know their locations. It's a good thing to know in case something should go wrong."

"Miroku told me that Inuyasha and I were bound to one another because he claimed me. What exactly does that mean?" she inquired.

Tomo thought about the question for a moment. It was hard to explain such things to humans. Then, remembering what he had told Janashi, he responded, "In this village, humans marry one another. They have these small, private ceremonies before the gods and proclaim their undying love to each other. They ask for the gods' blessings and promise to honour and serve one another for all eternity. As a human, you know the ceremony I speak of. You've probably even pictured yourself performing those same rituals. I know Janashi has.

"For demons, it is different. In our world, we don't care about a few spoken promises to the gods. All demons care about is power. To mate with someone powerful will produce powerful offspring, therefore strengthing the line.

"Some years ago, I'd say before the time of Inu no Taisho, the demons came upon a problem. Back then, only the most powerful of our kind were allowed to live. This created problems. Females, who are naturally more connected to their mates, kept getting raped by these lesser demons who wanted to gain power through their children. In an effort to protect their mates, males began marking their females. Not only did it solve the problem, it helped the males gain a stronger connection to their females. It was a gift that had originally been reserved for only the females.

"This marking, later called claiming, gave the mates a much stronger bond. For the first time, they were able to know if their mates were safe, could predict if their mates were in trouble. Not only that, but the mark created a sort of barrier to protect the females from unwanted male attention, namely lesser demons who preyed on unmarked females."

"So, by claiming me, Inuyasha and I are.... married?" she stammered.

Tomo chuckled, "No. I'm saying you are mated. You are bound in such a way that is far more stronger then human marriage. Marriage is a concept that was created by humans. Demons played no part in that process."

"So, we aren't married?" Kagome asked.

Tomo shook his head and Kagome breathed a sigh of relief. Tomo laughed again, "Don't let your guard down yet. You aren't married, but you are mated. This makes you closer. No other male will ever try to take you from the hanyou. At least not a sane male."

She thought about his words. No, she and Inuyasha weren't married, but they might as well be. For some unknown reason, this comforted her. "Does it work on him as well?" she questioned.

Tomo's face was grave. "Yes, it does. However, you haven't given him a child yet. Be warned, the mark will last a year. In that time, if the two of you do not produce a child, the mark will disappear and you both will be free. If this happens, it could take centuries before Inuyasha is able to find another mate."

No wonder Inuyasha didn't like the thought of birth control, she thought. "So a baby pretty much seals the deal," she assumed.

Tomo nodded. "Know this, he cannot be with anyone else for this year. His potency exists solely for you."

That's a relief. Then, a thought occured to her. "You said 'be warned.' But, it's just temporary. If I get pregnant, it becomes perminant. And if I don't, he has to wait for another girl to come along that he likes. Why should I be warned?"

Tomo tilted his head to the side. "Demons don't just claim someone they like. And, honestly, they don't have to really like the person. Much like when a human marries, we each have our own reasons. But, it all boils down to one thing: producing offspring. I'm not saying I know Inuyasha's feelings for you, but if he's taken his time to claim you... he wants a child."

This stopped Kagome. She couldn't imagine that was all. There had to be something else. By the looks Tomo was giving her, there was. She thanked the youkai and then ran into the village. She had to talk to Inuyasha.

~~~

Inuyasha did not need to hear the tone in Kagome's voice to know something was wrong. He quickly parried Sango's attack as he heard,

"Inuyasha, we need to talk," Kagome demanded.

Somewhat thankful he could quit practicing, but dreading what was to come, the hanyou stopped fighting and turned to the priestess. He sighed, "What did I do now?"

In answer, she showed him the bite mark. "Remember this? Mind telling me why you didn't bother to tell me what this meant?" she growled.

The hanyou blinked. "It means we're mates," he stated simply, not understanding what she meant.

She pressed her fists into her hips. "Ooooo... I wish I could sit you right now!.... It also means you want a child, doesn't it? Because if I don't produce a kid in less than a year, this mark will be gone and you'll be screwed until you find another mate," she snapped.

Inuyasha glanced at Sango in confusion. Tomo had appeared behind Kagome and Inuyasha knew where this was coming from. "Look, I don't know how you got this idea, but I don't intend to get you pregnant any time soon. At least, not until after Naraku is defeated," the hanyou assured the priestess.

For some unknown reason, this seemed to anger Kagome even more. She snarled, "How I wish I could sit you! If you think I'm going to just let you fill my belly with a child just because Naraku's gone, you better start looking for another girl."

With that, the priestess turned on her heel, pushed Tomo out of the way, and stormed away. Tomo turned to follow only to find Inuyasha blocking his path. The cold steel of Inuyasha's human blade pressed against the youkai's neck.

"I don't know what you told her," the hanyou growled, "but you better stay out of this. My relationship with Kagome is none of your damn business and I'll be damned if I let you fuck it up."

Tomo raised an eyebrow. "Interesting," he commented.

Inuyasha snarled, "What's interesting?"

The youkai stared at the hanyou. He knew the hanyou was angry, but he didn't particularly care. "When did this become about you?" the youkai asked.

Confused, Inuyasha took a step back and lowered his sword. He knew the villagers were watching, hands on their weapons. The hanyou snapped, "What do you mean?"

Tomo looked around. His glance assured the villagers that everything was safe. It would take more then a puny human sword to kill the youkai. He indicated the village and the people in it. "Two hundred years," he said. "For two hundred years, my village has been in training. It was a passing soothsayer who predicted the coming of the Demon Priestess. It was myself and the monks who kept the prediction alive. We have been waiting for her.

"However, this has never been about you... or me. This isn't about Naraku, or petty sibling rivalry. This is about her, Lady Kagome."

"That still doesn't give you the right to tell her I wanted her to get pregnant!" Inuyasha shouted.

Through the angry yelling, Tomo remained calm. "If you didn't," he said, "you never would have claimed her. You know the penalty for not getting her pregnant within a year. Why would you risk that?"

Sango, who had been silent, spoke up, "What would happen?"

Inuyasha did not answer her. Instead, he growled at the youkai, "Stay out of our business, monk."

The hanyou stomped away. Tomo sighed as he answered the demonslayer, "If he does not get her pregnant within a year, Inuyasha will become impotent for a thousand years. To a youkai, it means nothing, but to a hanyou, with their shorter lifespans..."

~~~

"Kagome?" Inuyasha called softly. He had found her in the woods outside the village. He kept to the branches where he could see her sitting on a fallen tree, crying.

"Go away, Inuyasha!" her voice snapped brokenly from below.

Her back was turned to him and her knees were pulled to her chest. He was grateful she wore an actual priestess outfit rather than her school uniform.

The scent of her tears had been what had led him to her. He hated it when she cried. He dropped out of the tree he was in and lightly climbed onto the fallen tree. Kagome shouted, "I said go away!"

"If you think I'm going to leave you out here while you're pissed off at me, then you're mistaken," he growled. "I will not be blamed for something I didn't do."

Kagome's head popped up and she spun around. He could see how red her blue eyes had become. Her face was covered in tears and her nose was swollen. "You didn't do anything?" she repeated, her voice dripping with sarcasm and frustration. "You knew what would happen. You knew what it would mena. And, you knew I wasn't ready for that. Yet, you deliberately did it anyway. Did you really think you could force this upon me? That I wouldn't notice? Do you think I'm that stupid that I wouldn't figure it out?"

"What?!" he stammered. "No! Of course not! Kagome, I swear I did not mean to do it. I don't know what had come over me. I would never try to force you into anything. Especially not something that could be as life changing as this."

Tears fell freely from her eyes. She took his left hand and placed it over her heart. "Do you feel that?" she asked.

He looked at her curiously. He could feel the soft thump of her heart, but he wasn't quite sure where she was going with her point. He tilted his head to the side and answered, "I feel your heart."

"That's right, Inuyasha. It's my heart," she snuffled. "And right now... it hurts." She lifted his hand to her cheek. "Look at me, Inuyasha. When are you truly going to open up? When are you going to really start talking to me?"

"But..." he stammered, "I am talking to you."

She shook her head. "Why didn't you tell me what you wanted? Tomo shouldn't have been the one to tell me. It wasn't his place nor business."

"I know," he agreed. "And I told him..."

Kagome interrupted, "You should have told me. When you are in love with someone, you are supposed to be able to tell them anything. And this is possibly one of the most important things."

"I didn't want you to know," he admitted. As the look of hurt began to spread along her face, Inuyasha was quick to finish his thought. "I didn't want you to know because I knew you weren't ready. So, I figured if I didn't say anything and the year was up, if you still wanted me, I'd just put the mark back on you."

Kagome looked at him. She knew he was being honest, but, "There's something you aren't telling me." As he looked away from her, her eyes widened. "Inuyasha? What aren't you saying?"

"It's nothing," he mumbled. Kagome was already upset. Inuyasha knew if she learned about him becoming unable to produce, she would never forgive him.

"If you don't tell me, I'll find out another way," she warned. "It would be best if you told me now."

He looked at her and sighed. She was right. He couldn't chance that youkai telling her anything else. He took a deep breath and just let it spill, "Being a half-demon is tough. It's not like being human where you can have children with whomever, whenever. And it's not like being a demon where you get another chance.

"Half-demons have one shot at having kids. That's why it's so important for us to pick our mates carefully. We have to make sure our mate is healthy and able. They have to have qualities we want in our own children, cause unlike our full-blooded brethern, we mate for life."

"I don't understand," Kagome stated.

"Once a half-demon claims someone, they have a year to become a parent," he told her. "Just like a demon, if they can't produce, they become impotent for a thousand years. Unlike a demon, by the time a half-demon is able to have kids again, they are usually way passed their prime."

Silence reigned for a while. Kagome couldn't believe what she was hearing. She felt betrayed and used. Suddenly, it no longer mattered if the hanyou loved her or not. He had just damned himself.