Author Note: Wanted to update before the weekend, but got super busy and went to a wedding out of town. So I was going to update monday, but was just an all around depressing day. My schedule for work wasn't out when I left and even though I booked the monday tuesday off I was scheduled anyway. So late monday, then my friend put his dog of 15yrs down and then get word one of my uncles passed away. So hadn't really felt like coming on till now. So here's the chapter. I understand there are some errors with the last, apologies I usually give everything a last read, but was super tired that day and didn't do it.
Chapter Two
Two inu youkai ran at top speed, making their way back to their camp site. Both were now extremely curious as to what was going on with the young miko and her group. They spoke of her coming and going from the village for years. Some part sounded like they weren’t even worried about her, but then when Katai had spoken to his uncle about not protecting and mating his uncle looked like he was about to kill him. The taijiya and the houshi as well had grown quite serious and protective. So what was the reason for all this? What was going on?
“I don’t think she is far from our campsite” Katai spoke as the approached.
“Nor do I” Sesshoumaru agreed “we will have the miko explain to us”
Reaching camp, they found her trail and began to follow it. They hadn’t gotten more than 4 miles when they picked up her scent. What confused them is it was laced with blood and it only got stronger the closer they got. Soon they arrive in a heavily wooded area, continuing to follow her scent they found her body in some bushes. She had numerous gashes that looked to have been made by claws and she was practically laying in a pool of her own blood.
“Smells like a youkai” Katai stated, he stared at the unmoving woman “is she alive?”
Sesshoumaru remained silent while he never took his eyes off the miko. It was subtle, but he finally managed to see she was breathing “barely”
“I’ll go get Ah-Un” the boy declared “he has medical supplies in the bag”
“Go” the taiyoukai ordered as he knelt down to check the woman over as his son left the scene. She had gashes on her arms and hands. She was wearing miko garbs, which wasn’t a brilliant thing to wear in a forest where youkai live. It was like a calling that said ‘kill me’ and apparently someone took the call. Undoing the shirt, he noticed she had a deep gash across her chest.
Feeling herself being touched and moved, Kagome slowly opened her eyes. Her mind was dizzy and it made it hard to focus. Slowly moving her eyes, she saw the silver hair and sighed “what are you doing?”
“Checking your wounds” he replied, noticing more cuts on her legs, but not as severe.
“I’m not dead?” she asked.
“No”
She sighed again “are my wounds going to kill me?”
“If they are not treated” he stated.
“Then don’t fix them”
He looked up from her legs to her face “you want to die?”
“I’m tired” she admitted, “I’m so very tired”
“You did not fall into the water” he deduced. He had known something was wrong with her, but he never would have guessed she was trying to kill herself. What was going on? What had happened to the once fearless miko?
“I did fall in” she insisted, “I just didn’t do anything to pull myself out”
His eyes narrowed “what happened between my brother and you?” he watched as she merely gave a small smile and closed her eyes. He growled “miko, do not pass out until you have answered my question”
“Father, I brought Ah-Un” Katai’s voice called as he quickly walked over with the dragon. Reaching into the saddlebag he pulled out some bandages.
Without saying a word, the taiyoukai stood up with the girl in her arms and began to walk. He didn’t bother to check if his son was following since he knew the boy would. It was only a short walk, but he came across a small stream. Without hesitating he knelt down and lowered the miko into the water. He kept her submerged except for her head until he was sure the bleeding had slowed down. After a short time, he took her out and grabbed the bandages from his son “do her legs”
Kagome opened her eyes when she felt someone by her legs and someone by her arms “stop”
“What happened between you and my brother?” he repeated his earlier question.
“Amazing how time can change things,” she sighed, “so much has changed”
His eyes narrowed “what has changed between you and my brother?”
“Nothing” she smiled sadly “we love each other”
Katai raised an eyebrow “something has changed. You leave the village often and on your own”
She looked at the boy “you’ve been to the village?”
“Indeed” Sesshoumaru answered as he finally finished bandaging her wounds “now answer my question, why do you wish to die?”
“I’m tired” she repeated.
Katai shook his head mentally. She didn’t look tired, she looked worn out and defeated. He watched as she passed out once again and looked to his sire “what are you going to do with her?”
“She has not explained what has gone on with her friends” he stared at the miko for a moment “there was a time she would stare death in the face with fierce defiance and now she instead wants to welcome it”
Katai followed his father as he brought the woman back to last nights’ campsite before he got an idea. No one in the group had wanted to answer anything about the miko, but the fox had gotten them to open up a little. Perhaps he could gather answers from him “father, I shall return”
Sesshoumaru looked at him “where are you going?”
“Back to her village” he spoke with determination “I think I can get answers from the kitsune”
“Avoid my brother”
Taking that as his father’s consent, Katai nodded and quickly began running through the forest. Not halting for anything he actually managed to make great time and arrived back at the outskirt of the village by nightfall. Staying on the outskirt he kept an eye into the village and tried to spot the kitsune. About an hour into the watch he spotted his uncle and he quickly made sure he was down wind. Last thing he wanted was to be caught by his uncle when last time it looked like he wanted to kill him.
“Oi Shippo!” Inuyasha called “go fetch some damn water”
“Why do I have to?” he wined from inside the hut, but after a minute a tall kitsune with green eyes and red hair came out rubbing his head and made his way to the edge of the village “geez does he always have to be so violent?”
“He certainly seems like a violent man”
“Tell me about it” the kitsune grumbled, but then realized that wasn’t the voice of someone he knew. Turning his head, he saw the boy from that afternoon “what are you doing back here? If Inuyasha sees you he swore he’d kill you”
Katai chuckled “of that I have no doubt, however, I was hoping I could get some answers from you about what is going on”
“What are you talking about?” Shippo asked, defensive.
“I mean what happened between the Miko and my uncle?”
Whatever the kitsune had been expecting, it hadn’t been that “u-u-uncle? Inuyasha is your uncle? T-That means S-S-Se-Sesshoumaru is y-y-your-”
“Father” the boy finished “that is correct, now can you answer my question?”
Startled by this revelation, Shippo just stared for a moment. Sesshoumaru had a son that looked to be about 6 years old, but seemed to have the maturity and attitude of a 14 year old. Yeah, he could believe this was the taiyoukai’s son “why are you so curious about Inuyasha and Kagome?”
“Since my father and I found her floating face down in a river” he stated.
“Kagome!” he exclaimed, panicked “is she alright? Is she alive?”
Katai gave a nod “she is well, but why is she not with your group?”
The kitsune sighed in relief while his eyes took on a sad gaze “come with me and I’ll show you” he said as he led the young boy to where the goshinboku stood close to the bone eaters well “there’s no marker, but there is a body buried here”
“A body?” he repeated, as he looked at the tree “whose? It’s my understanding everyone from your group is alive”
“Everyone is” the kitsune spoke “she was going to be the first addition to the growing family. She would be your cousin”
Katai’s eyes widened “cousin?”
He nodded “yeah, she would be about almost 8 by now if she had survived”
“What happened?” the boy asked. He found it shocking to know he was staring at a grave of someone who was blood related to him. To know that if she was alive she would have been older than him by nearly 2 years. When he had come looking for answers he was not expecting something of this degree. To learn of something so big it was hard to believe.
“Kagome found out she was pregnant with Inuyasha’s child just before the final defeat of Naraku” Shippo explained, giving a small chuckle “she was only 2 or 3 months and stubborn as always. She actually went against all of us when we told her to stay behind and she snuck her way into battle. Turned out we needed her powers to help defeat him”
“When did she die?” Katai found he needed to know. He wanted to know about this blood relative that was so close to his age.
“You’re getting a head of the story” he noted, “after Naraku was gone everything went well. Kagome’s pregnancy went well till the last month. She had been walking with Inuyasha when she suddenly went into labor. What frightened all of us was before Inuyasha carried her into Kaede’s hut we saw blood down ‘there’ and after a couple hours we heard Kagome crying” his own eyes became teary at the memory “we learned that the umbilical cord had been wrapped around the baby’s neck and she had died shortly after Kagome had gone into labor”
“I see” the boy said quietly “why have they simply not tried to have another kid?”
Shippo wiped a tear away “Inuyasha was afraid, you see, Kagome almost died that day as well”
Again surprised by the information, his eyes widened as he stared at the kitsune “she did?”
“Kagome nearly bled to death, but Kaede and Sango were able to stop it in time though. She was weak and unable to move for a few days, however, Inuyasha had been so frightened by the experience that he didn’t want to try again”
Katai frowned “it was his first child?”
“Yeah” Shippo nodded “Kagome’s too. What a horrifying first experience for them, but after some time Kagome had wanted to try again, but Inuyasha would not touch her. She grew saddened and after Sango and Miroku started having kids I think the pain that she may never have kids became too much for her. So she left us”
“Thank you for telling me” he said as he looked at the tree one last time “my father has been curious about her predicament”
“Sesshoumaru? Curious?” the kitsune said in surprise.
Katai chuckled “my father does have emotions even if he does not show it. I have been told many stories of you and your friends, not to mention the battles you’ve done with my father and with Naraku. Seeing the miko after all these years he noticed a change in her straight away and he wondered what caused it, but she’s been reluctant to talk to us”
Understanding, Shippo sighed “I see, well, Kagome will probably never talk about it to you guys…or to anyone really. I have a feeling its’ something she’ll take to her grave”
“Now that I’ve heard this story, I agree” the boy nodded “again thank you for tell me”
“No problem, besides since she technically was with Inuyasha that makes Sesshoumaru her brother-in-law and I guess that makes you her family as well. Since she’s with you guys you need to know what’s going on with her” the fox demon reasoned “just make sure you guys get her to come visit us soon since its been awhile since we seen her”
Turning to leave the young youkai gave a single nod “that I can do” was the last thing he said before taking off and making his way back to the campsite.
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
Kagome groaned as the morning light hit her eyes and pain shot through her body. Slowly she rolled to lay on her side and placed her arm over her eyes in order to block out the sun. What the hell was wrong with her? Why was she feeling so much pain? What had happened to her?
“Miko, you will answer my questions”
Oh right. Now she remembered “when are you going to get that I’m not going to answer anything you want to ask me?”
“You and my brother consummated your relationship” he said bluntly.
Still keeping her arm over her eyes she mumbled at him “I’m not going to dignify that with an answer. What Inuyasha and I did or didn’t do is none of your business”
“It is my business when you and him failed to tell me that you were carrying my niece”
In one quick movement, Kagome was sitting up and shooting the taiyoukai a dark glare “how do you know that? How the hell do you know that?!” she yelled, her voice on the edge of hysterics.
“Since you were unwilling to tell me anything, Katai was able to get the fox to talk” he answered.
“Shippo” she spoke angrily as she stood up “I’m gonna kill him! He had no right” she pointed a finger at the youkai lord “you had no right to go behind my back!”
“You were refusing to speak” he replied.
Katai then appeared from behind the dragon where he had been sleeping “do not blame father, I went and asked the kitsune”
Taking a deep breath, Kagome tried to reign in her anger. She was not about to yell at a child “I mean no offence to you, kid, but it was really none of your business. It had nothing to do with you or your dad”
He growled, “it did too! She was my cousin! She was family!”
Kagome’s eyes widened. Those words struck her hard and she felt her legs get weak as she collapsed to the ground, stunned. Her eyes began to water and she quickly used her hands to cover her face “I failed” she sobbed “its my fault! I’m the reason she died!”
Sesshoumaru looked at his son “leave me with the miko”
“I will be close by” he said as he walked to the edge of the forest.
Turning his attention back to the miko, he spoke “now explain to me everything in your own words”
Taking a few minutes, she allowed herself to calm down before speaking “I learned I was pregnant before the final battle with Naraku. No one wanted me to go to battle, especially Inuyasha, but I snuck my way there and it was my powers that defeated that bastard” she sniffled “because of the battle and to make sure nothing was wrong with the baby Inuyasha talked me into going back home to my world so we could learn, but when I tried to enter the well I wasn’t able to do it”
“The well wouldn’t let you pass” he said.
She nodded “I took the realization pretty hard, but with Inuyasha by my side I was able to recover and I began seeing the village as my new home. I was happy and everything was going good, but when I lost the baby, everything got worse. I took my time to grieve and I eventually gathered the courage to ask Inuyasha to try again…but…”
“He wouldn’t” the taiyoukai said for her.
“Yes” she confirmed with a sniffle “when he wouldn’t touch me I felt like a complete failure, something tainted and ugly. I tried telling him how I felt, but he still refused to be intimate with me. I felt like a diseased creature and then Sango ended up having healthy twins and I knew I couldn’t stay in the village. Constantly I was reminded by her and the other village woman that they can have what I cannot” she looked at the youkai lord “so I left the village and just wonder around, showing myself to my friends once in awhile to show I’m alive”
“I see” was all he said. Now he was starting to understand what was going on with her and his brother, however, there was still one question left to ask “when did you begin trying to kill yourself”
Kagome frowned and looked at the ground “recently I’ve been running into friends that I met during the whole Naraku adventure and looks like everyone is finding happiness. Everyone has a family now or are starting one and it’s constantly a reminder of what I’ve I lost” she began to shed tears once again “I just can’t take it anymore. I’m tired and I’ve had enough”
“Your bandages need to be changed” he stated as he stepped towards her, seeing them already soaked with blood.
She shook her head “please don’t. If I’m lucky I’ll get an infection and die”
“Your friends would want you to live” he mentioned as he stopped.
“They have their own lives now” she said as she winced. The pain in her body was finally starting to register with her “Shippo is almost an adult, Sango and Miroku have a family together and I’m sure Inuyasha is doing just fine without me”
“You are giving up too easily miko” he said as he walked over to the dragon and grabbed new bandages.
Kagome couldn’t help, but give a small laugh “8 years ago I never would have thought I’d hear you, lord of the west, give me, a simple human, a pep talk. If anyone had ever mentioned it, I would have laughed in their face”
He didn’t give her a reply, but instead walked over to her and knelt down next to her. Taking her arm, he took off the bloody bandage and began to put on the new one.
“Did you not hear me before?” she asked as she tried to move his hand away from her “I don’t want this. Is this a new method of torture? If it is, it is most cruel”
“I am helping you to live and you are calling me cruel” he commented, but continued changing the bandages.
She looked at him with saddened eyes “to know I’ll never have children and that my chance for them is gone, but instead of letting me die so I can be with my daughter? Yes, you are cruel”
“There are other males out there” he remarked.
“Ha” she huffed “I know how guys of this time are. They only want females to cook, clean, and bare them children. Also they want a woman who has never been with a man before. I have been and not only that I was also tossed away by the man I love. No man, human or youkai, will think of me as a woman, but as a whore” she felt her eyes watering again “so you see I’ll be left alone with no one to care for me and no children. If that is what my future holds I would rather die so I can be with my daughter”
He didn’t offer her a reply and continued changing her bandages. By the time he finished she had fallen asleep once again. He stared at her for a few moments and only one thing ran though his mind. His brother was a fool. A woman that is courageous, determined, trustworthy, and faithful in this day and age is a hard woman to find and his brother had found one. That woman had wanted his pathetic brother and the hanyou had actually given her up just because of one set back.
Yes, they lost their first child, but that was the thing…you can always make more. No they would never forget the one they lost, but reproduction was a part of life. The male was to find a suitable female for breeding in order to assure their bloodline carried on in the future. Too bad his brother was an idiot. The miko even though she was human had the perfect traits and discipline that would assure any child under her care would grow up with the same determination and ambition she had. Such a shame his moronic brother broke her.
“Father, what are you plans for her?” Katai asked as he approached the two.
The taiyoukai glanced at his son “what indeed”
“There is no point in healing her” the boy pointed out “if she wasn’t before, she is now determined to kill herself”
“We will keep an eye on her”
The boy huffed “and how long do you suggest we do that for? Eventually she will want us to let her go or demand an explanation why we are keeping her alive, what do you suggest we tell her?”
“You are stepping out of line” he growled “best to watch your tone with me”
“Of course” the boy bowed “forgive me father”
The taiyoukai gave a nod “keep in mind I am your sire and alpha”
“Yes sir” he said as he turned his gaze to the miko “so what are you going to do with her?” when his father was quiet he looked at the youkai only to see him walking away.
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
It had been a week since Kagome had been found nearly dead from the attack of a youkai and been healed by Sesshoumaru of all people. Through the week not much was said between the three. Sesshoumaru would change her bandages then leave for short periods of time. During the times he was absent his son would sit next to her and keep her company. Neither youkai asked anymore questions about her and Inuyasha or their daughter, which she was glad. She didn’t want to talk about either Inuyasha or her daughter.
“Eat this”
Coming out of her thoughts, Kagome turned to see Katai handing her a cooked fish for their supper. Smiling, she took the fish “thank you”
He gave a nod before going back to the fire and getting his own fish “father should be returning shortly”
“Who’s your mother?” she asked. She had noticed never once was his mother mentioned or ever around and now she was curious as to who would actually sleep with the emotionless taiyoukai.
Katai smirked “Kagura”
“Kagura” she exclaimed, but started coughing when a piece of food went down the wrong pipe. Taking a moment, she got her breath back “Kagura is your mother?”
“Was” he corrected “she’s dead now”
She frowned “dead? How did she die?”
“My father killed her” he answered bluntly.
Her eyes widened and she gasped “why?” she asked in disbelief. Sure Kagura had come from Naraku and often lead the group into his traps, but she had helped them out plenty of times. That showed that she is not really a bad person, so why did he kill her? Or better yet how did Kagura manage to sleep with Sesshoumaru? The latter was the most interesting question.
“Two years ago while my father was away dealing with a matter” he started “my mother took me to a cave and told me to stay there while she dealt with a task she had to do, but I didn’t listen. When she was a good distance I followed and caught her as she met up with another youkai where she began the process of breeding with him”
“How did Sesshoumaru find out?” she asked.
The boy looked at her “I told him. Even though I am young my father has instilled in me how important it is to tell the truth and that when a mother and father are together they are to be in no one else’s arms” he looked over at the fire “we hadn’t been that far from where my father left us and after my mother washed up in a near by stream we returned just before my father did. However, I told him what I had seen my mother do. He was furious and slashed her up before she could kill me”
Kagome looked at him confused “kill you?”
“She was mad because I told on her” he confessed “so she was going to kill me”
“How could she do such a thing to a child?! To her own child?!” she turned to him, mortified “how did Kagura and Sesshoumaru even get together?”
He shrugged to answer her first question “she never really loved me. She had me merely to trap father into being with her. Inu youkai go into heat close to the end of summer and some how my mother found out. She used it to her advantage and managed to find him during the night when his heat was strongest”
“She trapped Sesshoumaru into being with her” Kagome spoke out “but then slept with another man…I don’t get it, why?”
“She wanted father’s power and status” he answered “inu youkai are loyal creatures so when his heat was over and they were able to confirm she was carrying he stayed with her”
Taking a moment, she thought about what he said “so your saying that when a inu youkai sleeps with someone they stay committed to that person?”
He shook his head “that is usually the case. Father never trusted Kagura so he never fully felt the need to be completely comitted”
Kagome shook her head “so Inu’s are loyal, but only under certain circumstances?”
“Let’s just say we’re a complicated species” he suggested.
“So then why did Sesshoumaru stay with Kagura?” she asked “especially if he didn’t trust her to begin with”
Katai glanced at her “he did it to save the life of his first born. He knew that if he didn’t stay with her she would take my life since she didn’t get what she wanted. My father acknowledged that while my mother was a vile woman she was a strong, clever and would be worthy of producing one of his offspring, but he didn’t trust her one bit and he made sure to teach me to be aware of my soundings when with her”
“Oh” she said, not really sure how to respond.
With that the two grew silent and spent their time staring at the fire. The warm night air made for a very comfortable atmosphere even when it was filled with silence. Katai snuck a glance at the woman and gave a small smile. He knew only what his father had told him of the battles and from what he had seen of the woman. For her to grieve so much over one child showed she was truly a kind hearted woman. He remembered that the kitsune he had met would have been a kid during the times of the battle and she had looked after him more than the others of the group. She had shown her mothering nature then.
“Do you like kids?” he asked suddenly.
Kagome looked at him, surprised by the question, and smiled “yes”
“Did you always want kids of your own?”
“Of course” she replied “from a young age I couldn’t wait to fall in love and have that man’s children”
Katai looked back at the fire “you looked after the kitsune when he joined your group. Did you ever think of him as your own son?”
“I guess a part of me felt motherly towards him” she answered “but while Shippo was close to us he never actually considered any of us a replacement for his parents and we never held that against him, however he did tell me he felt a special closeness and bond towards me that was more than us being friends to him”
“So on some level he thought of you people as family” he clarified.
She shrugged “yeah I guess so, but he never called any of us mom or dad or sister. No family related names, but it was fine with us” she looked over at the boy “why are you asking this?”
“I had never felt close to my mother” he explained “always felt she hated me and I thought it was just the way mothers were, but my father or Jaken often told stories of your group and told me of your relationship with your group, but your relationship with the kitsune always interested me” he looked at her “I wish I had had even a small amount of the closeness you had with the kitsune with my mother”
Giving a gentle smile, she placed an arm around him and pulled him close “there is no bond greater than that of a mother and child”
“Where did you hear that?” he asked curiously. Feeling her arm around him and having her pull him close he felt a warm feeling spreading throughout him and briefly he wondered if that was what one was suppose to feel around a mother.
“My mother often said that to me” she replied “a mother is a woman who carried a life inside her and even when it is out in the world she will still do what she can to protect it, even at the cost of her own life”
Staying silent a moment, Katai stared at the fire “then my mother was not a mother”
“Kagura was a woman. I’m sure while she may not have shown it, she did have feelings for you” she comforted.
Katai didn’t respond, but just enjoyed the presence the woman beside him offered. If Kagura had been a real mother like she should have been then he assumed that the feeling he should have felt for her would be similar to what he was feeling now. He had finally found the feeling he was searching for. Now he was going to do what he could to keep it.
Author note: so what did everyone think? Will update again sometime next week, not sure when since I have a lot going on. My girl is turning 2!