Interest

A/N Okay, had to take a small break, but got up the next chapter today, still. :-)


Summary: A little physical trouble brings about an unexpected discovery.
Theme: wish


All the following warnings MAY apply to all chapters, but WILL apply at sometime in the story: MPREG, anal, oral, humor, N/C, H/C, hand job, blow job, WAFF, M/M, Rim, Spanking (mild)


Ch. 21 - Wish


There have been many times in Miroku’s life where fainting was perfectly acceptable, even expected. Slipping into an unconscious stupor after grave wounds was often unavoidable, passing out after strong liquor was accepted practice, and falling instantly asleep after sex was simply a sign of a job well done.

Fainting after standing up from the futon in the morning, however, was enough to send Inuyasha into an overprotective frenzy.

“I am perfectly well, Inuyasha, put me down!”

Inuyasha ignored him continued trudging through the snow toward the village, still clutching Miroku in his arms. “You fainted. That ain’t fine, monk!”

“It was nothing to concern yourself over. You’ve seen the exact same reaction when men in the fields overexert themselves!”

“Oh yeah, standing after you wake up is really hard work.” Inuyasha’s hands pulled Miroku in tighter. “You sleep more, you move less, and now this! You finally started puttin’ on some healthy weight. You should be feeling better, not worse!”

Miroku frowned at the reminder of the small potbelly that Inuyasha’s obsessive feeding had earned him. A few months now, and the hunting and gathering hadn’t abated in the slightest. And Miroku’s stomach showed it. Considering how hard Miroku had worked at attracting the ladies, it had been a bit disconcerting to realize he was getting fat.

But he’d been hoping Inuyasha hadn’t noticed. His robes hid it rather well during the day, and Inuyasha might have been too youkai to notice when they made love.

“The faint is nothing to worry about. It’s likely a small cold or some such, Inuyasha. This sort of thing happens in the winter to humans, if you recall?”

“Stop slinging your bullshit! This has been goin’ on for weeks! It ain’t no cold. Now shut up already. Kaede’s gonna take a look at you even if I have to hold you down while she does it. Got it?”

Would rolling one’s eyes at his lover’s idiocy be construed as bullshit? He didn’t believe so. And Inuyasha certainly couldn’t see, so he could-

“And stop rolling your eyes at me, houshi.”

Miroku crossed his arms over his chest and scowled the rest of the way to Kaede’s. He kept his arms that way as Inuyasha set him down inside her hut and proceeded to malign Miroku’s stamina, his health, and his perspicacity all at once.

“And how long has this been going on?” Kaede asked Miroku, once Inuyasha had wound down.

“A few weeks, perhaps-”

Inuyasha interrupted. “The fainting’s new, but he’s been acting tired and slow for nearly two months now.”

“It hasn’t been nearly that long, Inuyasha.”

Rounding on him, Inuyasha poked him in the chest. “It fucking has, Monk! Why the hell do you think I’m so worried, you idiot!”

Miroku stared at him and did some mental calculating. Surely it hadn’t been that long, had it? They’d arrived back in the village just before the harvest was in, and then the first snows arrived and then…it had been a while since he’d been feeling normal.

But how could he blame himself for not noticing? Was anything normal since Inuyasha’s youkai had fixated on Miroku? They still made love nearly every night. Miroku’s body still had the scent of pregnancy surrounding it, as strong as ever. And the two of them had been living in the same house, waking under the same blankets, the entire time.

Miroku swallowed and his smile felt awkward. In front of these two was not the time to realize that he’d been immersing himself so much into the illusion of their lives together that he’d lost track of this much time.

“I suppose it has been a while, at that. But I still don’ t believe I’m in need of aid.”

“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?” Kaede said. She gestured for him to get over on the futon.

He’d barely settled himself when the questions started.

Did he have a cough or difficulty breathing? A fever? Did he suffer from the runs? Stomach pains? Headaches? Back aches?

Was there pain anywhere else?

Miroku was about to answer ‘no’ to that question as he had to every other one when he paused. “I- I suppose there has been some pain in my hips and pelvis and-“ He glanced at Inuyasha and decided that the dull ache he had from their lovemaking was going to remain unmentioned. Forever.

“What type of pain. Sharp or dull?”

“Sharp, I suppose.”

“Near the back?”

“No, the front, actually, and the sides. And…following the bones, I believe. It’s nothing, truly. It doesn’t bother me.” It wasn’t something he thought of much. The human body developed aches and pains as one aged; everyone knew that. So far, Miroku had never felt anything to match the pain of the kazaana in his hand. Compared to that, this was barely noticeable.

Kaede stared at him, asked a few more questions, and pursed her lips. “All right. Let’s have you take off your clothes, now, Miroku, and see what’s wrong with you.”

Miroku stared at her, then over to Inuyasha who was standing in front of the door as though he was worried Miroku would try to make a run for it.

He might be right.

“Mistress Kaede, surely you can determine if there is any problem without-“

“Would you expect me to bandage a wound without being able to see it?”

Miroku bit his lip and started to disrobe. At least he still had his fundoshi on. He was simply rather embarrassed to expose just how much weight he’d put on.

More so when she stared at his belly with eyes going wide once he’d put his robes to the side.

“There’s no need to stare, madam. I’m aware that I’ve put on a little extra weight.”

Kaede didn’t answer him at first and startled him as she reached out to touch his belly.

“Mistress Kaede!”

Inuyasha growled. “Stop your bitching and let her look at you, monk!”

Miroku grit his teeth. If she’d been a few decades younger, it might have been a pleasant experience, but this was making him uncomfortable. He wasn’t even certain why. She’d bandaged all of them up dozens of times over the years. Probably seen him in less clothing than he had now. But…something on her face made him nervous.

“Does it hurt when I press my hand here?” she asked quietly, pressing carefully over his potbelly.

“Not exactly.” It was an odd feeling, but not unpleasant, really.

“No pain?”

“Should there be?”

“Getting some meat on your bones doesn’t hurt, monk, and you know it,” Inuyasha groused.

“This isn’t fat,” Kaede said, and they both quieted.

“O-of course it is. What else could it be?”

As Kaede looked up into his face, his hackles raised in reaction to her odd stare.

“I don’ t know, but I do not want you to take this lightly, Miroku. It-“ Kaede paused, glanced at Inuyasha, and began prodding carefully around his body again.

“What is it?” Inuyasha’s voice was agitated. Miroku thought he might see red sneaking in around the edges of his eyes.

“There is one disease I know of that causes great fatigue, and lumps in certain areas, that can last for months,” Kaede said softly, still probing.

Miroku had to lick his lips before he spoke. “What?” She didn’t answer. “Please, Kaede, what is it?”

“Kagome used to call it cancer. It is a form of growth inside the body that eats away at it from the inside. It always ends in death, at least without Kagome’s future treatments.” Kaede continued to prod while Miroku’s mind paused, and then readjusted his life expectancy significantly downward.

He was surprised at how easy it was to do, to put his head back to the time when he knew his death was certain, and soon. Maybe the expectation had never entirely left. Miroku couldn’t remember a time in his youth when he hadn’t had that knowledge deep inside.

Everything ended. Miroku looked over at Inuyasha and something pulled from deep in his chest. Perhaps…perhaps it was better that it ended this way, before Inuyasha grew out of his obsession with Miroku and they lost what they had.

He wasn’t certain he was strong enough to deal with losing that, anymore.

Inuyasha still didn’t speak, but Miroku suddenly noticed how pale his skin had become. The red-clad body shook with small tremors.

“Inuyasha-“

“Shut up,” he said hoarsely. “It’s not- It’s not this fucking cancer thing!”

Kaede nodded calmly as she continued to examine Miroku. “You may be right.”

Both sets of eyes whipped to her down turned head.

“But you have just said-“

“I said I knew of a disease that can cause this, but you have something on top of that which I am having a hard time comprehending,” she murmured.

They waited for her to continue and Inuyasha made a disgusted sound. “Well? What?”

“Miroku’s belly glows.”

Miroku looked down at himself just as Inuyasha said, “His skin ain’t that pale.”

“It glows of the shikon jewel, deep under the surface of his skin,” she said softly. “I’m not sure what the meaning of that could be.”

Miroku’s breath left him in a rush. If the jewel was involved, it couldn’t be cancer. And if it wasn’t cancer, then- He was so relieved for a moment that he was light-headed. It surprised him, how much those words meant to him.

Maybe he wasn’t as resigned to his own death as he’d like to think.

“It must be the wish,” Inuyasha said, his ears twitching as Kaede looked over at him.

“The wish?”

“Yeah. The monk here made a wish a while back and we got that glowing crap like Sango did with Kouga, remember? We figured it was Kagome’s wish comin’ true for him.”

A quick glance between the both of them and then she asked the question that Miroku should have been expecting. “And what was the wish?”

Against his will, Miroku’s cheeks heated. Kaede and the villagers might have noticed the changes in Inuyasha’s behavior, but neither he nor Inuyasha had confided what had actually happened while they’d been gone.

Or what they tended to do in the hut at night, either.

Miroku wasn’t sure if he wanted to talk about it to Kaede.

“Doesn’t matter, does it? If his belly’s glowin’, that’s gotta be the reason he’s feeling tired, yeah? Not this cancer thing, right?”

Kaede nodded slowly. “I hope that is the case, yes. But considering that it is a rather large glow, and that his belly has increased in size, I am worried over what is happening inside his body. The jewel has rarely brought about good changes in people.”

Inuyasha stiffened. “But it was Kagome’s wish for us! Her wishes can’t be bad!”

“I would hope not, but…the jewel may be gone, but we never completely understood it. I would feel more comfortable if I knew more about what is happening. Please, tell me what was involved.”

Miroku felt his face get even hotter, and after one look at Inuyasha, he turned away. Taking a deep breath, he was about to speak when Inuyasha took the initiative.

“Houshi here wished I thought he was pregnant.”

Kaede’s raised eyebrows only lasted a moment before her lips twitched. Miroku knew she was restraining a smile. She looked at his belly and bit her lip. A snort escaped her.

Clearing her throat, she asked, “And why exactly would the monk wish for you to believe he carried a child?”

There was more amusement than there should have been in her voice, for Miroku’s taste.

Inuyasha had the grace to look a bit embarrassed as well. “Well, ya see…” He paused and took a deep breath. “My youkai kind of took over. Decided it was time I took a bitch, and it picked Miroku.”

“I am not a bitch, Inuyasha.”

“I know that!” he snapped. “It’s not like I wouldn’t have told my youkai if I could have!” Inuyasha turned back to Kaede and he fumbled, his hands tightening over his suikan until his knuckles were white.

“Inuyasha, you don’t have to say anything,” Miroku said softly. The hanyou looked tormented. Miroku hadn’t thought it was still bothering him this much.

“Yes, I do, if something’s wrong, we gotta find out, right? So. Fuck. My youkai… It started taking over and fucking Miroku like he was a bitch.” His ears were flat against his head, even though nothing in Kaede’s face changed to condemn him when she heard the words. Miroku felt the familiar warmth that his respect for her had always given him.

Inuyasha took another deep breath. “And it wouldn’t leave him alone. I think…I think I might have fucked him to death, if we hadn’t figured out what to do.”

“Inuyasha, I’m sure I wouldn’t have died.”

“You didn’t think so back then. You were in pain all the time and-“ Inuyasha shuddered and his eyes were shadowed. “I really think I might’ve, monk. My youkai was getting frantic to have you all the fucking time, by the end.”

“So, how did you stop this?” Kaede asked softly.

“Well…I don’t really remember much of it, but Sango thought if we could get Miroku smelling like a breeding bitch, my youkai might back the fuck off. So we tried one of the pools that has a lot of that scent, but it wasn’t working, and Miroku wished that he would smell like one, so I’d stop. I think that was it, wasn’t it, Miroku?”

“A rather pithy summary, but yes, essentially.” Miroku’s voice was quiet. It felt wrong to have to talk about this, especially when it pained Inuyasha to tell it, but he could tell that Kaede wasn’t blaming Inuyasha. No more than Miroku had, in any case.

“And you witnessed the jewel’s glow surrounding you after your wish?”

“It was very bright. I assumed it had worked; Inuyasha’s behavior changed almost immediately. He claims my scent is different now.”

“And it’s never gone back to normal. You smell exactly like a breeding bitch, monk.”

Kaede’s eyes narrowed and she looked between them both. “And you’ve had no more loss of control since then?”

Miroku cleared his throat and Inuyasha looked away to the wall. This one was up to Miroku, then. “Well, he does, but…it’s different.”

“Yes? Is there still intercourse?”

Miroku’s face flamed again. “Yes.”

“Is it injuring you? Do you fell like anything has been torn inside that you weren’t telling me about? You cannot let embarrassment keep you from telling me about something important, Miroku. You could have an infection inside.”

“No. No. It’s nothing like that. He-“ Miroku flushed brightened and he closed his eyes so he wouldn’t have to look at either of them. “He’s very gentle. I’m not injured. I’m quite well, truly. Just a bit tired, that’s all.” And completely sexually sated.

Kaede frowned and looked at his belly again, putting her hand on it as she stared. “Maybe the change is to help fool your youkai, Inuyasha,” she muttered softly. “Perhaps it is increasing Miroku’s belly’s size to help foster the illusion. But if that’s the case, I don’t- Oh!”

Miroku winced as a uncomfortable pressure prodded his stomach. He was getting used to that. “I suppose I forgot to mention the gas pains. They’ve been getting a bit worse than usual. I likely overate.”

Kaede was staring at his stomach with huge eyes, and then looked back up into his. “Gas pains?”

“Yes, but – I didn’t think that would be something to worry about. Is it?” Her face was so pale he was worried now. What did it mean?

Kaede looked back at his belly and started feeling it again, but differently. Her palms were pressing in, rubbing across it, and then she stopped and poked in hard with one finger. Miroku’s stomach responded with another gas pain right in the same spot.

Her face grew paler.

“What is it?” Inuyasha demanded.

She didn’t say anything, just poked a few more times, and each time elicited a small, prodding discomfort in response until Miroku wanted to push her away. It was uncomfortable, and strange, and the look on her face was more disturbing than he wanted to admit.

“Oy, old hag, what is it? You’re scaring the monk!”

“I- I don’t know,” she said slowly, shakily. Her face turned up to Miroku’s. She took a deep breath. “Miroku, if you were a woman…I would have said you were pregnant.”

“Yeah, well, he’s not a woman, so what the hell’s wrong with him?!”

“I truly don’t know. But…” she turned to Inuyasha this time. Her next words were whispered. “There is something inside of his stomach that is reacting to my touch.”

“There’s something inside me?!” Not gas, but something alive? Miroku looked down at his stomach, horrified. Inuyasha stared as well, and started shaking and growling at the same time.

“Well how do we get it out of him?!”

Kaede shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know. I don’t know what it is, Inuyasha. It glows of the jewel and it reacts to my touch and, considering his stomach was not this large when I last saw him, it grows. I do not know if it is a parasite, or some youkai creature or-“

She shrugged again. “Perhaps…perhaps your wish came true?” She sounded as though she was afraid to even say the words, they were so crazed.

Miroku agreed with that look. “Are you – are you implying that this thing might be a child?”

“I don’t know. I have no explanation for it, but with the jewel’s glow-“

“Can’t be,” Inuyasha growled. His ears were twitching wildly. “I took him in the ass! There’s nothing to grow a baby with in there!”

“I’m well aware of that!” Kaede’s voice took a sharper edge. “But if the jewel is involved, we can only guess at what is possible. And if your wish involved breeding and carrying a child, perhaps you brought more upon yourself than you realized.”

“That’s insane,” Miroku said.

“Possibly. I may be completely incorrect. It may be a parasite of some kind.” she paused, and poked him again. He shuddered visibly as he felt the prodding sensation from his belly and for the first time, experienced it as something moving inside of him.

Whatever was going on, she was right. There was something inside of his body that wasn’t him. He stared at his stomach, unable to distance himself from the creeping horror at the thought.

“But Miroku,” Kaede said softly. “The one thing I can tell you is that most parasites I’ve witnessed don’t react like this. They are soft-bodied things, made to twine around your insides and stay hidden and safe. This thing inside of you is firmer, stronger. With appendages of some sort. And this,” she poked him one more time to get a reaction. “This feels exactly like the kick of a small babe, just like in any other pregnant woman of the village that I have examined before.”

Miroku stared at her, and over at Inuyasha, whose face was shifting from horror and worry to something else as he stared at Miroku’s stomach.

“But-“

“I truly don’t know what is happening,” Kaede said, softly, still staring at his belly. “And I don’t know how such a thing as this might be possible, even if it ends up as true. But…I believe you may need to prepare yourself for the idea that your wish to smell like someone with a child might have been granted in an unexpected way.”

As the world went gray in front of his eyes, Miroku’s last thought was that this time, no one was going to wonder why he’d fainted.