The Trials and Tribulations of Parenthood

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho. They are owned by their respective authors. I only claim ownership of the plot.

Authors Note: This story is in many ways a parody of the way things can and sometimes do happen in real life. Some OOCness may occur but I will try to keep it at a minimum. With that in mind, enjoy the story.

The Trials and Tribulations of Parenthood – Chapter 2

Hiei stopped his headlong flight once he put the lights of the store behind him. How was he to know what KY Jelly was for? Hell, if it wasn’t food they shouldn’t have put the word jelly in it. And besides that, were humans really so unskilled at mating that they needed to use the jelly for lubrication? Hiei really didn’t get it. ‘I’ve had enough for one day. I guess I’ll go back to the apartment and wait for Kagome to get home. I need to find out if she really is pregnant anyway.’ He didn't have long to wait, fifteen minutes or so before he heard her walking up to the door.

Kagome walked in the door of the apartment and hid her mouth behind her hand. The look on Hiei’s face had been priceless when he had found out what the KY Jelly was for and the way he had left the store was too funny in spite of the situation, but she knew he wasn’t taking kindly to her giggling.

“Hn, you’ve had your laugh. Now go play with your pee or whatever you do with it.” Hiei was still peeved over the whole incident and wasn't in the mood to put up with her amusement over what had happened.

Kagome rolled her eyes and pulled the box out of the bag. She seriously doubted that Kurama was telling the truth. He probably knew that Hiei was about to lose his temper and said something that he knew would get him out of the house. Well, she'd know soon enough. She took the test into the bathroom and shut the door, leaving Hiei to wait out in the living room. This wasn’t something she really wanted him watching her doing anyway, and him standing there would only make her more nervous.

Hiei paced the floor as he waited, didn't she say it would only take a minute? He scowled at the closed door and continued his pacing. When her just a minute had stretched into fifteen minutes Hiei’s nerves reached his breaking point and he stalked up to the door, his voice barely above a growl. “Kagome, come out here and let me know or I’m coming in even if I have to break down the damned door.”

He blinked as the door opened slowly clearly having expected at least an angry response before she came out. Suddenly sitting down looked like a good idea, he knew the answer just by looking at her pale face. “Why me, how could you let this happen?”

When Hiei made that little comment under his breath Kagome’s head came up and her temper snapped. It took two to do this, where did he get off blaming her? “Look Hiei, I didn’t do this all by myself! It isn’t my fault you wanted to mate every single day of your cycle. So I don’t want to hear why me or how could I let this happen!”

Hiei looked at her in surprise, she rarely snapped at him unless she was under a lot of stress, or he had been exceptionally unbearable today. When he could feel her aura spike in anger he made a decision to give her time to cool down. Any place was safer than here right now. “Hn, I’m leaving. When you get over your little attitude I shall return.” He grabbed his cloak and walked out the door, leaving Kagome staring at his retreating back.

Once down to the street though Hiei didn’t know which way to go. He knew he’d probably ruined his welcome at Kurama’s apartment for the night after his little blow up and he was still angry with the kitsune anyway. He really didn’t feel like going into the Makai, Mukuro would probably put him to work though killing something was definitely appealing he didn't want to be gone for several days. He finally settled on going to the park and jumped into the tallest tree he could find, where he contented himself with glaring at everyone who passed by underneath him.

‘Try to blame this on me! Sheesh! It isn’t my fault you wanted to mate every single day of your cycle!’ Hiei was doing a wicked imitation of Kagome’s voice in his head. This could have been prevented; all she had to do was go get those little pills that women are supposed to take. But noooo. ‘If she thinks I’m going to cater to her every whim for the next nine months and play babysitter afterwards, she’d better think again.’

~*~*~*~*~*~

Back at Kurama’s apartment Yukina and Kurama were lying on the bed again. Yukina was cuddled up against Kurama’s side with her head on his shoulder She wasn’t sure what had made Kurama decide to mark her but she wasn’t unhappy about it. All that was left was for her to accept him as her mate, marking him and sharing his blood.

Kurama had long since thought that Yukina would be an ideal mate, even though she was of the Koorime. She was sweet and intelligent, as well as strong willed and powerful when the situation called for it. He had become an expert at hiding his feelings; this had been something that even Youko was in the dark about. He could feel the Kitsune's amusement over the situation as well as his approval. The more interesting facet was going to be dealing with Hiei as a brother in law if she accepted. Hiei was a possessive little shit; he could try to make things difficult. ‘Let him try, once she accepts she is our mate. He has no say in the matter.’ Youko’s voice was heavy with irony in the back of Kurama’s head. ‘Although, I will admit I didn’t expect you to mark her so soon. And this time you can’t even blame it on me, this was all your doing on your own.’

‘Hell, I was tired of being alone I guess and she’s never been with another male. That’s worth a lot to me. I've had my eye on her for a while, waiting to see if she was interested in a relationship. Besides I wasn’t going to blame you.’ Kurama leaned his head back enjoying the touch as Yukina started running her fingers through his hair and his eyes fell to the place on her shoulder where he had made his mark. “So Yukina, have you decided? Are we to be mated or shall I take you home?” He made sure that his most winning smile was in place, he didn’t intend to take no for an answer.

In answer she rolled over and began to nuzzle his neck. “Stop Yukina, you’re going to get things started again if you keep that up.” Kurama was more then willing, but he still wanted an answer. Gently he pushed her head away so he could look into her eyes and asked again “You still haven’t answered my question.”

She leaned back and studied him. She knew he was ruthless and a killer but then so was her brother. The bigger question was how would he be as a father. The thought must have shown on her face because he kissed her lips and assured her. “I promise that I will take care of you as well as any children we might have in the future.”

He wasn’t sure if that was what she had been worried about but apparently Youko had been correct about this one because Yukina lowered her head and gently bit his shoulder. It was so light that he almost missed it, but the sudden completion of the bond between them and the surge of protectiveness were unmistakable.


~*~*~*~*~*~

Morning came and Hiei stretched on the branch of his tree. He could feel Kurama coming his way on his way to work. He wasn’t sure what he would say, but things needed to be settled between them. Kurama stopped at the tree and waited for Hiei to drop to the ground.

“Good morning brother in law.” Kurama smiled when he saw the look of surprise and then annoyance that passed across the fire demon's face. “Yes Hiei, she completed the bond. I understand your need to watch over her but don’t even think of trying to come between us. She is my mate now.” There was threat in Kurama’s voice; he would tolerate no interference in his relationship.

Hiei ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. “You’re right Kurama, there’s nothing I can do about the mating.” Whether he liked it or not since Yukina accepted his suit they were bonded now and he really had no say in it. If he were to attack Kurama as was his right then it would alienate his sister, something he didn't want to do. “My bigger problem is with Kagome. You were right, she’s pregnant. What am I supposed to do with a breeding female on my hands?”

Youko couldn’t help but chuckle, he was going to have some fun with this one. ‘Got a problem with all this daddy?’

‘Shut up fox! Don’t you have something better to do? Like go screw yourself or something?’Hiei wasn't about to put up with the taunts of the kitsune. He had enough to deal with at the moment.

‘Well, I’ve made it over a thousand years without getting anyone knocked up, unlike someone else I know. Hey Hiei, is your kid gonna be as emotionally constipated and vertically challenged as you are?’Youko grinned in amusement, knowing he'd struck a nerve.

‘Youko! Are you trying to get us both killed?’ Kurama was beginning to get another of his famous headaches. “Both of you stop it right now! This is my head you’re both trying to split apart here.” Youko was preening in the back of his mind when he felt the little fire demons youki starting to rise. ‘Got him good this time didn’t I?’

~*~*~*~*~*~

Yukina stretched and opened her eyes when the sun started shining in her eyes through the curtains. ‘Time to get out of bed I guess.’ Her hand went up to her shoulder where Kurama had marked her on the previous night and a warm feeling of contentment settled on her. It was nice, the feeling of belonging with someone. ‘Go take a shower my love, I’ll be home around five and then we can go out to dinner. Perhaps Kagome could also use some company today.’ Kurama sent a wave of love down through the bond. ‘Think of me until we’re together again tonight.’ And then he was gone, his attention turned to other things.

Yukina giggled, she couldn’t wait to see Kagome. Maybe if she hurried with breakfast and cleaning the house she could catch the girl home before she went out to do other things. With those thoughts in her mind Yukina hurried through her chores and was soon on her way.

She was shocked when Kagome answered the door. The girl looked terrible, she had been crying and looked like she hadn’t slept all night. She gathered the girl in her arms and gave her a big hug as the tears started coursing down her cheeks all over again. Together they walked over to the couch and sat down, Yukina wasn’t sure what was wrong but if it was this bad she wanted to know what it was, maybe she could help. But she was in shock when she heard what Hiei had said. Never would she have expected this from him. She supposed his reaction could be typical, but she had never thought of her brother as typical. But if this was the way he was going to react, maybe some time apart would do them some good. “Kagome, come on, we’re going on a little trip to Genkai’s temple. You aren’t mated to him yet and I think you both need some time to think.” Yukina giggled in her hand when she saw Kagome's reluctant nod. “Besides I have a secret I need to tell you. We can go through this together, won't it be wonderful? I knew that eventually I'd become a mother but the timing on this is perfect!”

Kagome sat with her mouth open, staring at Yukina. Did she just hear her right? “Are you sure? You’ve only been with him once after all. How can you know you’re pregnant the very next day?”

Yukina giggled and leaned forward whispering to her friend. The Koorime self reproduce once approximately every one hundred years. It's not exactly predictable when we will become fertile though; we only know when we feel a new flare of reikai. Well, two weeks ago was mine and Hiei’s birthday although I very much doubt he knows it. Anyway, when Kurama and I did ummmm have fun I felt that flare a few hours afterwards. So instead of me reproducing on my own he became the father of my children instead. Won’t he be surprised?”

Kagome didn’t know what to say. She seemed to have a million questions in her head but didn’t know how to ask any of them. Finally she asked the one that had the most bearing on her situation; “Does this mean that Hiei will only be able to get me pregnant this one time?” She knew that her life span was significantly shorter than Hiei's, though that was subject to change if he made another rude comment to her about her condition.

Yukina sat back and looked puzzled. “I honestly don’t know Kagome, me and my brother are the only children to survive from a Koorime and Fire Apparition mating. I don’t know which parent his body will take after. I’ve heard the Fire Apparitions are constantly fertile, so who knows.” Yukina suddenly giggled and looked at Kagome. “Although if I had to make a guess from all the smiles I’ve seen on your face, I rather think he tends to follow the fire side.”

Kagome blushed. “I guess I am pretty transparent at that. And you’re right Yukina, I think he is more horny then any human male I’ve ever heard of, most especially during his heat cycles. If he can only get me pregnant during those cycles then …. “ Kagome paled as the thought popped into her head and then burst into tears all over again. “He’ll have me pregnant constantly! That's it! He's not coming anywhere near me with that again!”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Koenma had been going over the roster in front of him containing the names of souls that were ready for a new body when Jorge suddenly burst into the room. “Sir! We have a problem!”


Koenma stared up at the blue ogre and sighed. When wasn't there a problem? “What is it Jorge?” The ogre never got the chance to answer six people filed into the office, all bickering over who was going where. Several threats were thrown around between then and Koenma looked about ready to swallow his pacifier. “Shut up!” He waited for silence to fall over the room before turning to Jorge. “What is the meaning of this? You better start explaining now or you're getting spankings!”

Jorge looked uncomfortable about being put in this position. He wondered how he had gotten there to begin with. 'The joys of being last born in the family. My life sucks.' He jumped when Koenma cleared his throat, clearly impatient for him to get explaining. “They want reincarnated sir.”

Koenma stared in surprise and than began to sort through the files, looking at the roster for reincarnations. It wasn’t all that unusual for a soul to request to be born into a certain family, but he’d never them all converge on him like this before. As he looked the noise became overwhelming once more as each tried to be the first to speak and make themselves heard above the rest. It just didn’t make sense.

Slowly he looked at the group gathered in front of him and made a list of their names. Kouga, Inuyasha, Shippo, Rin, Sango, Miroku. He looked down at his paper to see what parents had drawn the attention of all these souls. The names of Hiei and Kagome leaped out at him.

He stared at the list for several long moments, his mouth hanging open. This just wasn't possible! He didn't even know that they had been going out so when the hell had this happened! ‘Kagome is pregnant? Why didn't they consult me before this? What the hell were they thinking!' To say that he was shocked was an understatement; he hadn’t been expecting this one.

He looked up at the group awaiting his decision, it was obvious they weren't going to leave until he had made his decision. Right now he wished he had the two responsible in front of him so he could scream to his hearts content but they weren't. Sighing heavily he scanned over the listing of each of their past lives and why they would choose to go to that particular pair. He shook his head and made his choices. His hand raised and pointed to one soul. “You”. Argument's broke out between them, though some of them decided to file out but Koenma wasn’t finished. His hand rose again pointing to a second soul and the room fell quiet. “And you.” He watched as Jorge began to remove the ones not chosen from the room leaving the two behind, waiting for Jorge to return so they could be processed. Koenma sighed again, well while he was now involved with reincarnations he might as well finish the list. Thankfully there wasn't that many to deal with. He picked up the next folder in the pile. ‘Now let's get back to work here.’ His eyes fell to the next names on the list and for the second time that day he was stunned almost speechless. His voice when it made itself known came out as a shriek that had all the nearby ogres cringing. “Kurama and Yukina?”


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