InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ What Are You? ❯ Chapter 33 Alternate ( Chapter 38 )

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

Chapter Thirty-Three Alternate

Twins

(The following excerpt has been taken from Chapter 26 Original and edited.)

My world had become a swirling torrent of pain and misery. My vision was blurry, tears stung my eyes, and I twisted from side to side, back arching as a scream sought to escape my lips. I willed it down, my eyes turning red. I snarled, my claws dug into the sheets, tearing them. At least they weren't silk. For something like this, nothing too expensive would be used.

“She's going to transform!” I heard one of the servants cry. It sounded distant—far beyond my world of pain. It was like hearing someone shouting over the expanse of an empty desert—a voice carried by the wind, with no definite source. I barely heard it.

“Give this to her and she won't,” a familiar, calm voice said. This late into my pregnancy, and now of all times, that would be disastrous. The twins would automatically seek to accommodate my body, and if they themselves transformed along with me while I was going through the long birth process, then one of them might die.

The pain. It was coming from something inside of me. Get it out! “She's going to hurt herself!”

I felt someone part my lips. It was so distant. Beyond the pain, it was like there was nothing. Something cool ran down my throat. I choked and swallowed, coughing. Finally, the scream pushed its way out. I howled.

I hoped this would be over soon. How long had it been already? I felt something disgusting and I screamed again, feeling the bones inside being forced apart. This is something that no man can ever appreciate. It's one thing having bone broken or ripped to pieces. These were just being pushed out of place. I gasped, panting and growling. I felt hands holding me down to keep me from thrashing. I heard another scream join my own and I froze, cutting myself off. The baby? The red haze cleared and I craned my neck to look, but the pains of labor seized me again.

But I knew what to brace for this time, and with the second birth, I didn't scream. I growled, thrashed, and ground my teeth a lot, but I never once screamed. I hated Naraku. Hated him. I think some time during all of this, I screamed at him, cursing him, and telling him that I was going to butcher him.

I forced myself upwards. The pups? I looked to Chiyouta. She had the firstborn, as the other was still being cleaned off. A servant took away the filthy sheets. She gave the child to me. “It's a boy,” she told me. I looked at him. He opened his eyes. They were red—like Naraku's, but he had my smooth, silver hair. It was actually a very lovely combination.

A servant gave me the other one. “This one is a girl.” I peered at the younger of the two. She was his opposite—Naraku's tangled mass of black hair, and my golden eyes.

Perfect. I sighed in relief. I just wanted to go to sleep now. The twins were of like mind, it seemed, because they were asleep in my arms before I joined them.

When I woke up, I was at first alarmed because the twins were both gone, but when I looked around the room, I calmed instantly. Rin had the girl. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor, cooing over her.

Naraku was standing with the boy near the door, looking more at the child than outside.

“Sesshomaru-sama,” Rin said upon seeing me awake. She rose carefully and tip-toed over to me. I took the girl from her. “Have you decided on any names yet?

Damn. Their names. No, we hadn't. We had talked a lot, but we just didn't know. Now, however, things could be narrowed down a bit. “Rin, the list of names is in my room, on the writing desk. Could you go get it?”

“Yes, Sesshomaru-sama.” She handed over the baby to me. She turned and rushed off, as quiet as she could muster. Naraku walked over to me and sat down beside me.

“How are you feeling?”

I looked at him, arching an eyebrow. “Horrible,” I answered. I wanted a bath, and some more sleep. Food would be good too. I looked at my daughter. “But I think it was worth it.”

He cupped my cheek, turning my face back towards him. He caressed my cheekbone with his thumb. “We almost lost you.”

I blinked. “What?”

“When you first went in to labor. To cope with the pain, you tried to transform the first time. Chiyuota said it would have killed at least one of the twins, but it definitely would have killed you, because you were already starting to hemorrhage. The second time you tried to, Chiyuota had made something to keep you from doing so.”

Damn, now I'd have to thank the old healer. “Hm.” I thought for a moment. Several days ago, I had sent Jaken out to find a wet nurse for the twins, as I wanted nothing to do with feeding them. He had better get back soon, before I had to do it myself. Right now, Chiyuota had prepared goat's milk, knowing full well that I wouldn't do it. But I didn't like the way that smelled.

Rin came inside with the paper. She handed it to me and sat back down beside me. Some names, we crossed off instantly, just looking at them. It narrowed down the list quite a bit, but we still couldn't decide on anything. There was so much in a name that it was just hard to say what we should name them. A name can dictate a lot about a person, and if we picked an unfitting name, then there would be contradictions.

I looked at the girl, studying her markings. She had Naraku's eye markings, and my crescent moon marking, except it was more purple than blue. I took her out of the blanket and looked for any other markings, but she had no others. The boy, however, was a different story. He really did look exactly like me, all except for his eyes. Same colored stripes, in the same place as mine, same amount, and he had the crescent moon marking on his forehead.

I reviewed the list for the girl. “Not Amarante,” I said. Naraku scratched it off in agreement. “I don't think Kimi either.” That one went as well. I studied her, trying to see what name would best fit her. I gave up and reached for the boy. Naraku relinquished him. I gave the girl back Rin. “What about you?” I wondered, looking at him.

Rin looked from me to him and giggled. “Toshi.”

I almost laughed. “Almost,” I said. “What do we have for male names?”

Naraku started listing them off. When one of us didn't like something, the name was scrapped. “Kasaimaru?”

I peered at him. “I don't think that `fire' really fits him.”

We were really stuck on this (and so is the author of this fanfic!). I sighed. “Well, what about the girl?”

“Shuarra,” Rin insisted.

“I like Meitsuki,” Naraku said, blatantly ignoring Rin.

I looked from one to the other. Rin peered at the baby. “You like Shuarra, too, don't you? You want your name to be `Shuarra,'” Rin insisted, touching her nose. Naraku scowled. “She looks more like a `Meitsuki.'”

Rin smiled at the baby. “Shu-arra,” she cooed. Naraku scowled.

I looked at the child. Naraku was right; she did look more like “Meitsuki.” But I liked the name Shuarra, as well. “Hm.” I considered. “Shuarra Meitsuki,” I said. “That's her name.”

Rin pulled away and spun happily around in a circle. “Rin wins!”

“Sesshomaru…” Naraku said, looking from me to Rin.

I liked Rin's attitude towards this, though. “Yes, Rin wins. But `Meitsuki' is still the second half of her name, so call her by either or both,” I said. He gave a slight roll to his eyes, then decided it wasn't worth arguing over.

“What about this one, then?” Naraku asked, looking at the one that so resembled me.

I looked at him. I still had absolutely no idea. It was strange. It was like naming… myself, only in male form. That was exactly what he looked like, so long as his eyes were closed. How could I name something that was an exact copy of what I wanted to be? This was going to be harder than I had expected, and I had expected it to be difficult.

Name Ideas:

Name Meaning Gender Compliments of Rating

Shuarra Unknown Female Sappphire1022 Winner

Meitsuki Dark Moon Female Myself Winner

Kasaimaru Fire Circle/Perfection Male Myself Med-Low

Meian Light and Darkness Either Myself Med-Low

Kumotsuki Spider Moon Either/Female Myself Low-Med

Amarante Flower that never fades Female Internet Low

Kana Powerful Male Internet Med

Kimi She who is without equal Female Internet Med-low

Toshi Mirror Image Male Internet Low-Med

Tamasine Twin Male Internet Very Low

Kanaye Zealous One Male Internet Med-High

I would love it if you guys would send me some more names and give me your input! Thankies! (The rating is really more for me than you, by the way.)