InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Torrent ❯ Confession ( Chapter 7 )

~~Chapter 7~~

~Confession~

 

Kagome made a face as she swallowed the multi-vitamin. She picked some up the other day just before returning to Sengoku Jidai. Now she was glad she had. If she wasn't able to hold something down soon, then she'd waste away to nothing. The vitamins had to help.

 

“I wonder if Miroku and InuYasha found the youkai that's been causing all the trouble,” Sango remarked as she straightened the hut she called home. Kagome grabbed the makeshift broom and started to sweep the floor. “They've been gone over a day already . . . .” she trailed off, pausing to stare at Kagome with marked concern. “Why don't you sit down? I can take care of that.”

 

Kagome waved off Sango's alarm, trying to hide the way her hands shook as she gripped the broom. “I'll be fine. I feel like I've done nothing for the last few days but lie around, anyway.”

 

That was true enough. After her unceremonious arrival, Sango had insisted that she at least lay down since Kagome didn't want to go home. It was starting to worry Kagome, too, because she'd never been sick this long before, either. It didn't make any sense, though. She felt fine when she lay down, but the moment she got up, she couldn't help but feel nauseous, and most of the time, trying to talk herself out of throwing up didn't work.

 

The bamboo mat that hung over the doorway opened. Shippou bounced into the hut followed by Kaede. The old miko came straight to Kagome, her kind old face contorted in a distinguishable frown. “What ails ye, Kagome? Young Shippou tells me ye have been sick this long while.”

 

“I was worried, Kagome,” Shippou said quietly, staring at his feet. “Please don't be mad.”

 

“Oh, Shippou! I'm not mad,” she assured the kitsune.

 

Shippou peeked up at her. “Really?”

 

“Really.”

 

“Kagome,” Kaede interrupted. “How long have ye been sick?”

 

Kagome sighed, gripping her forehead as she tried to remember when her illness had started. It felt as though it had been forever. “Almost two weeks,” she admitted.

 

Sango gasped, having not realized just how long Kagome had been sick. Shippou made a small whining sound. Kaede's eyes widened then narrowed. She wasn't sure what the old miko was thinking, but for some reason, Kagome shifted uncomfortably under the close scrutiny. “That is an awfully long time to be so ill,” Kaede finally said. “Perhaps ye should return to your era and see one of your `doctors'?”

 

Making a face and waving a hand, Kagome forced a laugh. She'd told them all about doctors in her time. They all seemed to think that doctors in general were akin to miracle workers. “I'm telling all of you, I'm fine! Besides, InuYasha would just get angry if I left, so what's the point?”

 

“InuYasha would want you to get better, Kagome,” Sango argued gently. “He cares about you. We all do.”

 

Kagome made a face and forced a nervous laugh. “I'm okay, really. I promise.”

 

“Shippou, will ye return to my hut and fetch my herbs?” Kaede asked. Shippou nodded and scurried out the door. Kaede watched him go before turning back to Kagome and leveling one of her no-nonsense looks at her. “Tell me, Kagome . . . have InuYasha and ye . . . joined?”

 

Sango's eyes bugged out as her mouth dropped open. “Kagome?”

 

Kagome twisted her fingers together as her face shot up in mortified flames. She was saved from answering, though, when a huge crash of---something---shook the hut. Villagers' terrified screams echoed through the open windows, and Kaede gasped as she looked outside. “It is back!” she informed them.

 

Snatching her bow and arrows while Sango grabbed Hiraikotsu, Kagome ran outside. Pushing their way through the chaotic scramble of fleeing villagers, the two exchanged worried glances. Hefting the giant bone boomerang over her shoulder, Sango's gaze lit with determination as a deafening growl shook the huts and stirred the trees surrounding the village.

 

The ten-foot-tall brown oni lumbered forward, lurching to grab livestock and humans alike. Decimating a hut under the clumsy mass of its immense foot, the oni unleashed another earth-shaking roar as it swung a meaty fist at a nearby dwelling. The building exploded under the force of the strike, and Kagome shielded her face from the flying debris. Her stomach turned over as the oni managed to bite a horse in half with its razor -sharp teeth. The animal's dying screech reverberated in her ears.

 

Shippou darted out from behind Kaede on the other side of the oni. “Kitsune-bi!” he hollered, hurling a glowing blue ball of foxfire at the oni. The oni growled furiously as it rounded to look for the youkai-child.

 

“Shippou, no!” Kagome screamed as another shriek rang out. Kirara, the fire-cat-youkai, in her larger form, plunged through the sky, nabbing the back of Shippou's shirt in her teeth before leaping out of the way of the oni's swinging arms.

 

Allowing herself a moment to breath a sigh of relief, Kagome closed one eye as she nocked back an arrow, carefully taking aim.

 

“Hiraikotsu!” Sango yelled, unleashing the giant bone boomerang at the beast. It hit the oni's arm and shot back toward Sango. The oni flailed its arm, waving off the attack as though it were of no more consequence than a fly buzzing around a picnic.

 

`Hit the mark . . .' Kagome told herself as she let the arrow fly. The tip erupted in her shimmering pink glow and whistled through the air, striking the oni's arm. The fissure of light intensified as the arrow struck true, and the limb exploded in a flash of dust. The oni screamed, casting its dull, vacant gaze around, seeking her out. Spotting her, it yowled again, altering its course as it shuffled forward to intercept her.

 

Kagome squeaked out a little shriek and ducked to avoid a sweeping hand, sprinting away from the oni as it drew its arm back for another sweep. With a mighty grunt, Sango whipped Hiraikotsu in a wide arc aimed at the oni's head. Bouncing off the oni's thick skin and clattering helplessly to the ground, the oni didn't alter his path as it lumbered toward Kagome.

 

It lunged for Kagome, swinging its mighty arm in an effort to capture the miko. She ducked just in time to avoid being hit. Slipping on the packed earth, she scooted back in retreat, rolling onto her hands and knees to push herself to her feet as the splintering crash of another hut was laid to waste. With the oni making another mad grab for her, Kagome tried to nock back an arrow and aim on the run, twisting her torso as she hastily took aim and fired. The arrow sailed cleanly over the oni's head.

 

She gasped and jerked as strong arms snatched her off the ground as dull realization cut through the panicked haze that engulfed her mind. Glancing up into InuYasha's angry countenance, she couldn't help the absolute relief that coursed through her, couldn't control the tremor in her knees as her body relaxed against him. He uttered a definitive snort as he glanced around to make sure they were out of the oni's reach for the moment, his glower shifted back to her and stayed there, eyes blazing, every line of his face taunt, drawn. “What the fuck do you think you're doing, bitch?” he screamed at her as he leaped out of the way of the oni's swinging arm again.

 

Kagome grimaced and glanced down in time to see Miroku toss an Ofuda at the oni. Clawing at its eyes, it stumbled, screeching in rage at the momentary blindness from the paper charm. InuYasha set Kagome on her feet and turned as he drew Tetsusaiga. The fang burst out in a flash of yellow light, and InuYasha shot Kagome a scathing look as he slammed the blade into the earth. “Kaze no Kizu!” The flames from Tetsusaiga shot out from the blade, searing a path across the ground. The attack struck the oni, and InuYasha resheathed the weapon as the beast disintegrated with a howl of pain, a flash of light, an explosion of glittering dust, a blast of unnatural wind.

 

She flinched when he swung around to face her again. The irritation in his expression hadn't waned at all. If anything, it had intensified. “InuYasha---”

 

“Are. You. Stupid?” he bellowed. She shrank back, biting her lip and staring in shock as the hanyou's tirade escalated. He'd never yelled at her quite like that before. “Were you trying to get yourself and our pup killed?”

 

Dead silence. As though everything in the village had ground to a stop, every single living thing seemed to pause in shock at InuYasha's bellowed question. Kagome's brain froze. `Wha---? No-o-o-o . . .' She shook her head, forcing a choked, weak, nervous laugh. “Our wha---I'm not---we aren't---”

 

His glower cut her off. “Our pup---you are---and we will.”

 

Kagome felt the world spinning away from her. The shock of his words coupled with the wave of nausea that hit her hard made her sway slightly as her knees threatened to give out. InuYasha must have sensed it, too, because suddenly he swept her up and strode toward Kaede's hut, ignoring the bulging eyes and whispers of the stunned villagers as he passed. “I'm fine, InuYasha,” Kagome whispered. “Put me down.”

 

“Keh!”

 

`A child?' Kagome moaned, burying her face in InuYasha's haori. Was she pregnant? As much as her mind tried to deny it, she had to admit that it made sense. That was why she kept feeling queasy, why she was unable to countenance the idea of food without wanting to throw up. The sickness wasn't from the flu, as she had thought. `Morning sickness.'

 

“I didn't know,” she said quietly as he let her feet drop to the floor inside Kaede's hut.

 

He sighed. He let go of her long enough to reposition his hands. Moving her hair, inspecting her for any signs of injuries, Kagome held her tongue till he'd satisfied himself that she was unharmed. “What the hell were you thinking?” he bellowed.

 

Kagome sighed, rubbing her forehead against the dull throbbing that was threatening to escalate into a full-blown headache. “It was attacking, InuYasha! What was I supposed to do? Run and hide?”

 

“Yes!” he thundered.

 

She shook her head and shrugged in apology. “I didn't know . . .”

 

He paced the floor, hands on hips, as though he were trying to work out some of his remaining irritation. Stopping abruptly, he glanced at her, late fear awash in his fierce gaze, and he dragged her into his arms. “Kagome . . . promise me you won't do that again. You've got to live . . . you've got to be here.”

 

“How do you know?” she asked, her voice muffled by his haori.

 

He pulled her behind him as he strode over to the wall and sank down, drawing her into his lap. “Myouga . . . told me some things I didn't know.”

 

Quietly, he recounted everything Myouga had told him. Kagome listened in silence. The information made her head spin. Full moon, new moon . . . . She let her head fall against InuYasha's shoulder. He pulled her closer.

 

“You're sure?” she questioned.

 

“Keh.”

 

“Absolutely sure?”

 

He grunted.

 

“So,” she said when he finally stopped talking. “I'm really . . . we're really . . . wow.”

 

“I wasn't going to tell you that way,” he grumbled in the tone that she knew. He only used that particular one when he was embarrassed. That thought alone brought a wan smile to her lips. “I just got upset. I saw you there, and the oni . . . and I . . . I'm sorry.”

 

Fatigue was fast gathering over Kagome. She yawned and blinked quickly, trying to keep her eyes open. She felt so safe when he was near, and as much as she hated to admit as much, she hadn't slept well in his absence. “InuYasha?”

 

“Hmm?”

 

She sighed, wishing she didn't have to say what she was thinking, but smiled when she felt the foreign warmth of InuYasha's lips on her forehead.

 

“I think . . . I think we'd better tell my mother.”

 

 

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A/N:

Sengoku Jidai: Warring States Era (Feudal Japan).

Kitsune-bi: Foxfire (fox magic … ) Shippou's attack.

Hiraikotsu: “Come-flying bone.” Sango's ginormous boomerang.

Oni: Ogre.

Ofuda: (honorific) paper-charm.

Kaze no Kizu: Wind Scar.

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Blanket disclaimer for this fanfic (will apply to this and all other chapters in Torrent): I do not claim any rights to InuYasha or the characters associated with the anime/manga. Those rights belong to Rumiko Takahashi, et al. I do offer my thanks to her for creating such vivid characters for me to terrorize.

 

~Sue~